When you're introduced to a mass audience through one specific character, it can be hard to shake that representation. Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man to millions of people, and while he can still win an Oscar for his Oppenheimer performance, he will still be Iron Man to Marvel fans. Sebastian Stan similarly will always be known for his performances as Bucky AKA the Winter Soldier, but he also wants to break out of the Marvel mould a little.
"I have to try to offer something different than before," he said, speaking on the Stronger Podcast. "And I've never favored one role over another. The Marvel stuff, I'll always, till the end of time, [feel it] really helped me grow as a person and helped me grow as an actor and it taught me relationships and [I worked with] Robert Downey [Jr.] and Scarlett [Johansson] and all these people I looked up to. It was a business. It was a family and it gave me a sense of belonging, and it's always there for that, but it was only the step one for me."
Stan, now 43, looks at younger actors and is glad that he's been able to tackle tougher roles at a slightly later age. "There was a significant part of my youth that I had to spend to get Americanized or to fit in and really find my way in a different way," he explained, talking about his Romanian heritage. "But it's really now that I feel I'm finally getting to do the stuff I've always wanted to do."
After awards buzz following his performances in A Different Man and The Apprentice, it seems Stan is just getting started on a new chapter in his career. He's still got ties to Marvel, though, having recently appeared in Thunderbolts*
