When Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi began working on the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, everyone knew there was bound to be pushback. The President-elect’s legal team tried to get the movie blocked, and those from the non-MAGA crowd had no interest in a story that even remotely portrayed him as a sympathetic character. So when the film was released, it failed to make a significant impact at the box office despite holding a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.
Abbasi shared his thoughts about the film’s performance in an interview with The Playlist. “I’m disappointed and shocked about the reception in the U.S. of The Apprentice,” he said. “What I’m really shocked about is that the movie is being considered controversial. I’ve said this many times, I still don’t understand. I mean, you’re dealing with someone who is like, it’s like he’s the encyclopedia entry of World Controversial, Donald Trump. I don’t know what’s controversial about the movie.”
Perhaps Abbasi should have steered away from telling a Trump story so close to the 2024 U.S. election. But that is not how the filmmaker operates. Instead, he is drawn to subject matter that has the potential to make audiences uncomfortable. “I don’t like to be a polite filmmaker,” he said, referring to his project choices. I don’t think being polite is a virtue for a filmmaker. Being polite is already being censored. Self-censored.”
Over the years, Abbasi has become accustomed to having his creative choices questioned. “Every movie I’ve done has started by someone wanting to censor something about it,” he added. When it comes to The Apprentice, the director is not shy when sharing his feelings about Trump and those who support him. “Even if 99.9 percent of the American populace would vote for Mr. Trump, he’s still a fascist, and he will remain a fascist,” the filmmaker stated.
Per the official synopsis, “The Apprentice examines Donald Trump’s career as a real estate businessman in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn.” The movie stars Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Cohn, Martin Donovan as Trump’s father, Fred, and Maria Bakalova as Trump’s then-wife, Ivana. While the film earned glowing reviews from critics, Trump described it as a “defamatory, politically disgusting hatchet job.”
Although Stan received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama, he could not find anyone with whom to discuss the film during Variety’s Actors on Actors segment. “I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie,” the Marvel alum previously explained. According to the actor, the request didn’t even make it past the publicity teams of his counterparts.
It’s not entirely surprising that The Apprentice became polarizing. Trump supporters would have echoed their leader’s sentiment and avoided the film at all costs. And unlike Abbasi, who has no qualms about calling the soon-to-be president a fascist, actors on par with Stan would have been afraid to voice their thoughts about the movie because of the ripple effect any negative comments would have on their careers. Everyone else just didn’t care since they will be living in a Trump movie very soon.
Published: Dec 9, 2024 01:55 pm