With the announcement of the 97th Academy Award nominations also comes a string of controversies surrounding the nominees. Whether it was the surprisingly toxic and derogatory remarks made by Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, or the misconstrued reports of Brady Corbet’s film The Brutalist and its use of AI, there has been plenty of media buzz about the nominated films. In the case of The Apprentice, it’s the lack of discussion that Jeremy Strong finds distressing. The actor plays Donald Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn in the movie (and is nominated for Best Supporting actor). He stars opposite fellow Oscar nominee Sebastian Stan, and the film has seen a number of roadblocks in its way of distribution and promotion.
In a profile piece on GQ, Strong had plenty to say about his role as the manipulative lawyer who would help shape Trump’s own tactics in politics and power. The Apprentice was first announced in 2018, and numerous delays that ranged from writers strikes to Trump’s legal team trying to stop the movie all played a role in the film coming out during the reelection year, which was never the intention. In terms of distribution, Strong found himself saddened by the blacklisting of the movie, and the fears of studios being a sign of what’s to come:
“It’s disheartening that the studios who should have released this movie — I won’t name them, but you know who they are — didn’t. It’s not because the movie isn’t good. It’s because they were afraid of repercussions, and probably have people on their boards who just said ‘no.’ The whole thing was frightening. It felt like a harbinger of darker things to come, this sort of insidious, quiet blacklisting. The business of Hollywood did not show a lot of courage.”
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Jeremy Strong Sees ‘The Apprentice’ as a Horror Film
Given the numerous changes to the production schedule of The Apprentice, it’s merely a twisted coincidence that the movie centered around Donald Trump would see a release mere months before his re-election. In light of recent events, the film has morphed into something more terrifying for Strong, who would tell GQ:
“The film has become, to me, more of a horror movie. It takes on a different resonance, and is harrowing to see now… So the movie has become scarier to me. Roy Cohn said, and I say it in the movie, “This is a nation of men, not laws.” And so I think what’s happening right now is we are stress testing that thesis in real time.”
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Sebastian Stan has expressed his own thoughts on the uphill battle it was to get The Apprentice made, and it’s admirable to see creatives like these two fight for the film that they believe in, and the story and warnings that come with it. With both Strong and Stan nominated for Oscars for their performances in the film, there’s a chance that a wider audience will now check out a movie that was initially kept at bay and minimalized so as not to paint powerful political figures in a bad light. You can watch The Apprentice now on digital platforms like YouTube, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and on Prime Video through the link below:
4
/5
Release Date
October 11, 2024
Runtime
123 Minutes
Director
Ali Abbasi
You can view the original article HERE.
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