Before he landed the role of Bucky Barnes in Marvel, Sebastian Stan experienced some major disappointments. The Romanian-American actor will soon be seen as Donald Trump in theaters, and in a recent podcast, he revealed that he almost became Captain Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek film. Despite doing everything he could for the role, he lost it, just as he did in his audition for Green Lantern against Ryan Reynolds.
Stan spoke as a guest on Happy Sad Confused, discussing how he wanted to make a blockbuster after smaller TV and film roles (Gossip Girl, The Covenant, Rachel Getting Married) in his twenties, but it was hard to achieve. "There were a few roles I didn’t get, even though I really wanted them. J.J. Abrams’s film had Captain Kirk, which was one of the first things I got really close to. I was very close and even did a test audition with him at Paramount Studios," the actor said, adding that he also resorted to an unorthodox method alongside the audition.
"My agent, regardless, also organized a photo shoot for me, where I tried to replicate pictures of William Shatner. We sent those to J.J. to show him how much I resembled him and everything. I didn’t get the part," Stan recalled. Ultimately, Chris Pine played Captain Kirk in Abrams's film and its sequels.
In the meantime, Stan also worked with Darren Aronofsky on the 2010 film Black Swan, although it was just a supporting role. He didn’t give up on his ambitious dreams and aimed to break into the superhero film world as well. However, he first tried this not with Marvel but with DC: "Green Lantern was another one where I made it to the test audition. I remember when I arrived, besides me, there were just Justin Timberlake, Jared Leto, Ryan Reynolds, and maybe one other person there. I looked at them and thought, ‘I’m done for. There’s no way they’re choosing me.’"
He was right; he wasn’t chosen, but in hindsight, he’s almost grateful for it—not because Green Lantern ultimately flopped, but because he feels that at just 29 years old, he wouldn’t have been able to handle the massive attention that would have come with the role. In fact, it worked out well that he made his debut as a supporting character in Captain America: The First Avenger, and Bucky gradually became a more significant character. Stan will return to the MCU next year as one of the leads in Thunderbolts, and his Trump film is set to be released in theaters this year.
