In A Different Man, writer-director Aaron Schimberg offers a twisted take on actors, playwrights, egos and the plight of the disfigured.
The provocative, dark comedy centers on an aspiring thespian with neurofibromatosis (played by Sebastian Stan) who finds a cure, only to long for the life he used to have when his face was still deformed.
Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson (who has neurofibromatosis himself) shine in key supporting roles.
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The A24 film stars Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson in a tale of an actor who has facial reconstruction surgery and must confront the fact that a theater role based on his life is given to another actor.
During the screening, the Sundance audience paid attention to the twisty script, which included a strange and kinky sex scene, as well as some realistic gore.
After the premiere, writer and director Aaron Schimberg joined Stan, Reinsve and Pearson onstage for a Q&A about the film’s themes.
Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, talked how he was able to discuss common ground with Stan, who wears extensive makeup for part of the film in order to achieve a similar look.
Stan also recalled how he would occasionally walk around New York City in the prosthetics from set and watch how people would treat him, thinking he actually had a disfigurement.
“I interacted with people and it was really interesting,” he said. “It was sort of scary to see how limited the interaction is between two extremes: don’t address it or overcompensation. The only people that were the honest were kids. I had this interaction with a little girl, and her mom is trying to do the right thing, but in doing the right thing she actually was preventing the girl from simply having an experience. She was brave and courageous, and that’s kids. They just want to know — they don’t have judgement. It was a learning lesson for me.”
End Note:
Though the film and Sebastian Stan were praised by critics, it was a commercial failure, perhaps due to the difficult and disturbing subject matter.
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