A24’s A Different Man star Sebastian Stan won a Golden Globe Sunday night for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
In a heartfelt speech, the actor acknowledged the rarity of substantial roles and equal access opportunities for disabled people onscreen. “Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end. We have to normalize it and continue to expose ourselves and our children to it. [We should] encourage acceptance.” Stan said.
Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, Stan plays Edward Lemuel, a struggling actor with neurofibromatosis, a condition causing tumors and facial disfigurement, who undergoes an experimental medical procedure to transform his appearance. He then adopts a new identity as Guy Moratz, claiming that his former self has died. As he navigates his new life, he becomes obsessed with an actor (Adam Pearson who has the affliction in real life) of uncanny physical similarity to his former self, who is tapped to play him in a stage play based on his life.
“One way we can do that is by continuing to champion stories that are inclusive. This was not an easy movie to make. Neither is The Apprentice, the other film I was lucky to be a part of and I’m proud of being in,” Stan continued. “These are tough subject matters, but these films are real and they’re necessary and we can’t be afraid and look away.”
