Sebastian Stan is receiving praise for his performance in the A24 drama A Different Man. The actor recently opened up about playing a man with neurofibromatosis in the film alongside British actor Adam Pearson, who also has the uncommon genetic disorder.
Stan stated in an interview with PEOPLE that Pearson’s life experience was “incredible” in helping him create the character of Edward, an aspiring actor who has facial reconstructive surgery and becomes fixated on Pearson’s character, Oswald, a fellow person with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).
Stan expressed, “I was kind of gathering different pieces from different places. And a lot of Adam’s experience that he shared with me was really helpful in that regard.”
Stan stated of Pearson, who was diagnosed with the neurogenetic condition that causes his skin to be covered in hundreds of thick, painful tumors at the age of 5.
Stan expressed that it was very easy to work with Adam, and he felt like they got along very quickly. Talking about filmmaker Aaron Schimberg, Stan says it was all just about trust and making sure that they were all on the same page.
Pearson previously starred in filmmaker Schimberg’s 2019 films Chained for Life and the 2013 thriller Under the Skin. Pearson told the outlet that before the production began in 2022, Pearson and Stan “had really frank, honest conversations” over Zoom about their upbringings and life experiences.
Stan is outstanding as Edward, who, despite being covered in facial prosthetics at first, finds a miraculous cure for his neurofibromatosis, a condition that causes deformity-causing tumors. However, he ends up playing the lead role in an off-Broadway play about his past life, written by his neighbor Renate Reinsve, whom he pines for, and which, in the end, features a stranger (Adam Pearson) who resembles him exactly.
A Different Man premiered at Sundance on January 21, 2024, and was released in the United States on September 20, 2024.
