Both Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong received Oscar nominations for their work in the Ali Abbasi film The Apprentice. Their nominations give me a bit of hope for the future of films in Hollywood under the new administration.
Before Donald Trump was even elected president again, celebrities reportedly refused to do the Variety’s series Actors on Actors with Stan. All because of his role as Donald Trump in The Apprentice, allegedly. But it did send a message to film fans that made us fearful of what Hollywood was going to turn into under a second Trump administration.
So when the nominees for the Academy Awards came out and Stan received the nomination for The Apprentice and not for his work in the A24 film A Different Man, it left me somewhat hopeful. Strong was always going to end up with a nomination for his work as Roy Cohn in that film and frankly, I think the award is Kieran Culkin’s to lose for his work in A Real Pain. But Stan had two options and if they wanted to “appease” the current President of the United States, he could have been nominated for A Different Man instead.
But nominating his work as Donald Trump really does make me think that we’re not about to enter a four year span of movies appeasing Trump and his base, which was a real fear that many of us had. To me, art is our greatest form of rebellion and we have, through history, pushed back at the powers that be with film. Caving to the whims of Trump was a real fear I, and many others, had after the Actors on Actors news.
Maybe we will still have art
One of the things that Trump has been pushing is the removal of DEI programs which have helped the film industry. So many creatives who were ignored for their typically white, straight, male counterparts were uplifted through a public push for more diverse storytellers and stories. As the Trump administration has continued to attack these DEI programs, it made me worrisome that art would suffer as a result.
While Stan getting nominated isn’t necessarily the biggest of statements, they could have completely ignored him. That would have sent the opposite message to me. But recognizing his work as Trump, especially when the actual Donald Trump has pushed back at Stan’s portrayal of him and the movie as a whole. It is a worthy performance and the nomination recognized that. But it is also a brave move given the fact that he did have another role up for nominations.
We still will have to wait and see what actually happens with Hollywood and movies in the next few years. It just makes me happy that at a time when tensions are high and people are afraid to speak out, the Academy is still recognizing the work of someone criticizing Trump. I hope that energy continues in the future and we don’t bend to whatever Trump and his MAGA fans want to see in movies.
Published: Jan 23, 2025 01:17 pm