Aaron Shimberg’s A Different Man is indeed quite “different” from the normal Sundance Film Festival fare, reteaming the filmmaker with Adam Pearson (Under the Skin), who not only played a key role in Schimberg’s previous film, Chained for Life, but also inspired Schimberg to incorporate elements of his persona into a character in his new film.
The movie stars Sebastian Stan (aka Marvel’s The Winter Soldier) as Edward, a New York actor with a condition that has left him drastically disfigured. When pretty playwright Ingrid, played by Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World), moves in next door to Edward, he’s quite taken, but after she spurns an innocent advance, he agrees to take part in an experimental process to cure his condition. Now looking quite different, Edward takes on the new role of “Guy,” and he gets cast as the lead in Ingrid’s new play, which happens to be inspired by her interactions with Edward. As “Guy” gets into this new role, along comes the flamboyant Oswald (played by Pearson), who looks a lot like Edward used to, except that he’s far more charismatic and comfortable with his disfigurement.
Cinema Daily US spoke with Schimberg and his two male actors about the inspiration for making A Different Man and basing a character around Pearson, what got Stan interested in the part and what was involved with wearing prosthetics and a mask that made him look more like Pearson. All three men spoke about working with Ms. Reinsve, and Pearson spoke about how much he brought of himself to the character of Oswald.
A Different Man opens in select cities on Friday, September 21, and then expands nationwide on October 4.
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Writer/Director: Aaron Schimberg
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson, Lawrence Arancio, C. Mason Wells
Producer: Christine Vachon, Gabriel Mayers, Vanessa McDonnell, Jason Reif
Production Co: Killer Films, Grand Motel Films, A24
Distributor: A24
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Graphic Nudity|Language|Some Violent Content)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): September 20, 2024
Runtime: 1 hour, 52 minutes
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You can watch the trailer below: