Sebastian Stan just won a Golden Globe, yet other actors don’t want to be associated with him.

When Sebastian Stan won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, the audience erupted with applause.

But in the weeks leading up to the 2025 awards season, the reception from his fellow actors was less than celebratory.

The 42-year-old actor won the award for his role in A Different Man. In the film, Stan plays Edward Lemuel, a struggling actor who has neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes tumours and facial disfigurement. Edward undergoes an experimental medical procedure to transform his appearance, and as he navigates his new life, he becomes obsessed with an actor played by Adam Pearson, a performer who has the affliction in real life.

During his acceptance speech, Stan called for better disability advocacy in Hollywood.

"Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end," he said.

Stan was nominated for two Golden Globes this year, but while his work in A Different Man has been widely praised, it was the film that garnered his second Golden Globe nomination of the night that has caused a few doors in Hollywood to close on him.

In his acceptance speech, Stan also spoke about his other film, The Apprentice, for which he was nominated in the Best Actor in a Drama category for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump.

"This was not an easy movie to make," Stan said on the Golden Globes stage. "Neither was The Apprentice, the other film that I was lucky to be a part of and that I am proud to be in. These are tough subject matters, but these films are real and they are necessary. We can't be afraid and look away."

While backstage after his win, Stan said he was 'stunned' after receiving nominations for both films, but in particular for The Apprentice since the creative team behind the film had been trying to get it made for over five years before they received the green light.

Listen to The Spill's full recap of the Golden Globes red carpet.

The Apprentice, which chronicles Donald Trump's early years as a real estate developer, is a film that has been engulfed in controversy since it was first announced.

In the lead-up to the film's release, Trump's team threatened to sue the makers of The Apprentice.

"We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers," the Trump campaign's chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to Variety. "This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalises lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked."

"This 'film' is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn't even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store; it belongs in a dumpster fire."

Donald Trump himself then described the movie as "a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job" and called everybody involved in the project "human scum".

Sebastian Stan won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Image: Getty.

Despite the film's critical acclaim, this backlash appears to have made some stars nervous to have their names paired with Sebastian Stan in any way — a fact that became evident when the pairings for the highly anticipated Variety Actors on Actors video series were announced as 2024 drew to a close.

The series sees two stars come together for an extended conversation about their most recent projects ahead of awards season, as a way to highlight the performers who have achieved the most buzz when it comes to who will be making an acceptance speech and holding a golden statue on stage.

With two buzzy films leading the awards show charge this season, it was a surprise when Stan's name failed to make the Actors on Actors list.

During a screening of The Apprentice in Los Angeles, alongside the film's director Ali Abbasi, Stan himself explained why he was left out of the Variety series.

"The amount of love that I've received from some of the biggest, in terms of actors, directors, producers, and writers, who have seen the movie, and they rave about it," he said. "But then, for instance, I had an offer to do Variety Actors on Actors this Friday, and I couldn't find another actor to do it with me.

"They were too afraid to go and talk about this movie, so I couldn't do it," Stan continued. "And it doesn't matter, that's OK. It's not to point a finger at anybody — I've got to do a lot of great things."

"That's not pointing at anyone specific; we couldn't get past the publicists or the people representing them because they were too afraid to talk about this movie."

Feature Image: Getty.