See “The Apprentice ”cast“ ”compared to the real-life people in Donald Trump's circle

Ali Abbasi's new film features Sebastian Stan as the former president and Jeremy Strong as famed prosecutor Roy Cohn.

Director Ali Abbasi has made a career out of crafting unexpected, controversial films such as 2018’s supernatural romance Border and 2022’s serial killer procedural Holy Spider. But with The Apprentice — his much-discussed Donald Trump origin story starring Sebastian Stan as the former president and Succession’s Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn — Abbasi has made his most contentious movie to date.

The film so rankled the industry that it had difficulty finding a willing distributor after debuting at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The real Donald Trump even threatened to sue the filmmakers over what his campaign called “pure fiction.” Briarcliff Entertainment eventually swooped in to guarantee the film a theatrical release in the U.S., hitting cinemas on Oct. 11, 2024.

In Entertainment Weekly’s recent cover story on The Apprentice, Abbasi explained that even he was unsure the gamble would pay off until he shot the first scene, featuring Trump lifting off in his helicopter. "I was looking at [the cast and crew] like, 'Wow, they look weird, man. Is this going to work?' Then the chopper starts lifting, and I'm like, 'Well, I guess I'm going to find out.'"

Yet in that moment, Abbasi saw his movie come together before his eyes. "Suddenly, it started to work," he recalled. "And I thought, 'If it's working here, it's probably going to work on the ground, too.'"

Alongside Stan and Strong as Trump and Cohn, The Apprentice features several familiar and not-so-familiar faces. Maria Bakalova (Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm) plays Donald’s first wife, Ivana Trump, while veteran character actor Martin Donovan plays his feather, Fred Trump Sr.

Read on to see The Apprentice’s cast compared to the real-life people they play in the film.

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump

It’s shaping up to be a banner year for the chameleonic Romanian-born actor best-known for his role as Bucky Barnes, a.k.a, the Winter Soldier, in the MCU. In addition to embodying Donald Trump in The Apprentice, Stan is garnering awards buzz for his literally transformational performance in 2024’s A Different Man.

Stan will soon reprise his role as the Winter Soldier in Thunderbolts, which is due in theaters on May 2, 2025. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Stan found it hard to shake playing the former president, telling British GQ that some Trumpian mannerisms made their way into the MCU. “I went off to Marvel after [The Apprentice],” Stan explained. “And we were doing scenes, and I would do something, a thing or two, and be like, ‘F---! This is still living somewhere.’”

Related: Will Donald Trump see The Apprentice? The cast and filmmakers weigh in

Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn

A major star of the stage and screen — though, appropriately for Abbasi’s movie, not without his own controversies — Jeremy Strong adds yet another memorable character to his repertoire by playing Roy Cohn, a notoriously dogged prosecutor who also served as Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army-McCarthy hearings. He died from complications of AIDS in 1986 at age 59.

Strong is best known as Kendall Roy on Succession, in addition to memorable turns in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and James Gray’s semi-autobiographical film Armageddon Time (2022). He told EW that inhabiting Cohn was “like putting on a magic cloak” in terms of allowing him to play outside of his own nerves and expectations. He also theorized that "If [Trump and Cohn] hadn't met, everything might be different. I really think it's that portentous and that significant."

Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump

Maria Bakalova held her own in her breakout role opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (2020), for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She’s gone on to have diverse parts in Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted, Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).

Playing the late Ivana Trump — ex-wife of Donald and mother of Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric — was the first time Bakalova portrayed a real person on-screen, which called for a “much different” set of skills than her previous roles. “With Borat we did a lot of improv, but we were mostly following what people were telling us and adapting in the moment,” Bakalova explained to EW. “Ali is interesting because he changes the way you act. He just manages to throw things at you."

Emily Mitchell as Ivanka Trump

Emily Mitchell is a Canadian child actor who has already racked up a remarkable set of credits. In addition to playing a young version of Trump’s eldest daughter in The Apprentice, she has appeared in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla (2023), Sarah Polley’s Women Talking (2022), and had guest turns on series like Ghosts and What We Do in the Shadows. She’ll soon be opposite Dakota Fanning and Kathryn Hunter in the horror film Vicious by director Bryan Bertino (The Strangers).

Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr.

Martin Donovan is a noted character actor who’s appeared in everything from Weeds to Big Little Lies to Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. He plays Donald’s father, Fred Trump Sr., in The Apprentice. Fred Sr. took over his family’s real estate business in the 1920s, building single-family dwellings in Queens before moving into the luxury property market throughout New York. He died at age 93 in 1999.

Related: The Apprentice stars Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong say biopic does not attempt to 'vilify' Donald Trump

Charlie Carrick as Fred Trump Jr.

Charlie Carrick is a British actor best known for his role opposite Anna Kendrick in Alice, Darling (2022). He plays Donald Trump’s older brother, who decided to follow his passion of being an airline pilot rather than enter the family real estate business. Fred Jr. struggled with alcoholism throughout his life and died of a heart attack at age 42 in 1981.

Mark Rendall as Roger Stone

Mark Rendall has been acting since he was a young child in Canada. He’s appeared in 30 Days of Night (2007) as well as the procedural Murdoch Mysteries, but playing Roger Stone marks his most prominent role to date.

A longtime friend of Trump’s, Stone eventually became his political adviser. In 2019, the 72-year-old was convicted of seven felony charges, including lying to Congress under oath and obstruction of a congressional investigation. Then-president Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.