Sebastian Stan has revealed the bizarre lengths he went to for his latest screen transformation – including allowing a fan to become the guinea pig for the severe buzzcut he wears in his new film Fjord.
Sebastian Stan has revealed the bizarre lengths he went to for his latest screen transformation – including allowing a fan to become the guinea pig for the severe buzzcut he wears in his new film Fjord
The 44-year-old Oscar-nominated actor explained the story during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week, ahead of Fjord opening in US cinemas on Friday (09.10.26.)
Sebastian plays Mihai Gheorghiu, a conservative Romanian father who moves with his wife and children to an isolated community in Norway before the family comes under scrutiny from child protection authorities.
The drama, directed by Cristian Mungiu, 58, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in May.
Asked by host Seth Meyers, 52, about shaving his head for the role, Sebastian revealed Cristian had first tested the proposed look on one of the actor’s fans.
Sebastian said: “(Christian) basically went online, as far as I understand, and asked fans of mine whether they would step forward for this experiment.
“Somebody went like, ‘I will do it’, and then he got a fan to shave.”
He added: “They practiced on him basically.”
Sebastian said he was then sent a photograph showing the results before undergoing the transformation himself.
He added: “Poor Romanian guy they found, I guess, off the street.”
Raising his fist in appreciation, Sebastian also said: “Props to him wherever you are out there.”
The haircut was carried out just two days after Sebastian attended the 2025 Academy Awards with his mother, Georgeta Orlovschi.
He had been nominated for best actor for his portrayal of Donald Trump in Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, losing the award to Adrien Brody for The Brutalist.
Explaining why he was willing to change his appearance so dramatically, Sebastian told Seth: “I would do anything, obviously. I don’t like looking like myself, at least in work situations. I want to put the character first.
“I want to serve the story. I think sometimes when you look like yourself, you get recognised for maybe a certain role you’ve played many, many times.
“You have to do a little bit of work to change the perspective.”
Sebastian has become particularly associated with Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier, after first playing the character opposite Chris Evans, 45, in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger.
He has since returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe repeatedly, including in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Thunderbolts*.
Sebastian will again play Bucky in Avengers: Doomsday, which is due in cinemas in December and reunites him with Chris.
The actor said this week that working with Chris again had been “very nostalgic”, adding: “We grew up together.”
His recent work has increasingly involved physical transformations. Sebastian won a Golden Globe for A Different Man, in which he played an actor with neurofibromatosis who undergoes facial surgery, while his portrayal of Trump in The Apprentice earned him his first Academy Award nomination.
He was previously Emmy-nominated for playing Tommy Lee in the television drama Pam and Tommy.
For Fjord, Sebastian stars opposite Renate Reinsve, 38, with whom he previously appeared in A Different Man.
The film was inspired by true events and follows Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu as their conservative approach to family life collides with attitudes in the Norwegian community where they settle.
The project also marks the first time Sebastian has acted in a feature film in his native Romanian.