Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson star in the acclaimed A24 drama “A Different Man,” a twisty new film from writer-director Aaron Schimberg that has already earned awards recognition for Stan in the lead role.
The Marvel actor and former Emmy nominee stars as Edward, an actor with neurofibromatosis – a genetic condition that causes non-cancerous tumors to grow in the skin. But after undergoing a “radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance,” Edward is left feeling adrift – particularly when he meets another actor, Oswald (Pearson), who has the same condition and seemingly lives a life about which Edward could only previously dream.
Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis in real life, previously worked with Schimberg on 2018’s “Chained for Life.” The filmmaker wrote “A Different Man” for the actor, and Stan spent almost two hours in the makeup chair each day to transform his facial features to match Pearson’s real-life visage. “This was the hook that we gave to Sebastian: you don’t know what it’s like to have a disfigurement, but you do know what it’s like to not have privacy and to have your life constantly invaded,” Pearson said at the film’s Sundance Film Festival premiere in January. “You become public property.’”
Since its debut, “A Different Man” has played other festivals, notably the Berlin Film Festival, where Stan won the best actor prize. It’s expected to be one of several A24 awards contenders this year, alongside other features like “We Live in Time,” “I Saw the TV Glow,” “Janet Planet,” “Babygirl,” “Heretic,” and “Sing Sing.”
Watch the trailer below. The film debuts in theaters on September 20.
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