Sebastian Stan Reflects on Trump Role and Current Political Climate During Cannes Press Conference

Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve took center stage at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 19, to promote their film Fjord. The pair appeared at a photo call alongside director Cristian Mungiu and co-stars Henrikke Lund-Olsen, Jonathan Ciprian Breazu, and Vanessa Ceban.

Fjord tells the story of the Gheorghius family, a devout Romanian Norwegian couple who relocate to a remote village in a fjord and develop a close relationship with their neighbors, the Halbergs. When their adolescent daughter Elia arrives at school bearing visible injuries, the community begins to question whether the family's traditional parenting methods may be responsible.

During the press conference, Stan was asked about The Apprentice in light of Trump's time in office over the past year. Stan, who played the former president in the film ahead of the 2024 election, took the question seriously despite some laughter from the room.

"It's just not a laughing matter, to be honest. It isn't," Stan said, before elaborating on his perspective.

"I think we're in a really, really bad place. I really do," he stated. "When you're looking at what's happening—if we're talking about the consolidation of the media, censorship, threats, the supposed lawsuits that seemingly never end but don't actually go anywhere—the writing was on the wall. We encountered all that with the movie."

Stan recalled the uncertainty surrounding the film's participation in the festival itself. "Three days before the festival, we were unsure if the movie was going to play," he explained. "So maybe people are paying attention more to that film. I think it will stand the test of time for that. But we went through all of it, right before Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and so on. So, I wish it wasn't like that."

The actor has previously discussed the intensity of taking on the Trump role, calling it the most challenging work he's undertaken.

Reinsve turned heads at the event in a Louis Vuitton ensemble.