The Making of 'The Apprentice,' in Their Words

Few movies this year have made as many headlines as "The Apprentice."

Ali Abbasi's film about a young Donald Trump ( Sebastian Stan ) under the tutelage of cutthroat attorney Roy Cohn ( Jeremy Strong ) has caused a stir at the Cannes Film Festival, been threatened with legal action by the Trump campaign and seen its chances for release dwindle before a distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment, was willing to put it into theaters.

Before "The Apprentice" arrives in theaters this weekend, The Associated Press spoke with Abbasi, Stan, Strong and screenwriter Gabe Sherman about how a very unlikely movie came together and how they hope it's received in the runup to the November election.

Assembling 'The Apprentice'

Gabe Sherman: I was struck by something people who had worked for Trump since the '80s told me, that during the campaign he used a lot of the strategies that his mentor, Roy Cohn, taught him. The idea came to me a flash. That's the movie. Donald was Roy's apprentice. Let's do an origin story, a mentor-protege story about how this relationship set Donald on the path to becoming president.

Ali Abbasi: With Donald and Ivana, they've never really been treated as human beings. They're either treated badly or extremely good – it's like this mythological thing. The only way if you want to break that myth is to deconstruct that myth. I think a humanistic view is the best way you can deconstruct that myth.

Sebastian Stan: I went on the ride. And it was a ride, too, because it wasn't a movie that came together very easily. It's a movie I've known of for a while. I originally met Ali in 2019. It was one of those things I thought: If this isn't going to happen with me being involved, it's not going to happen because the movie's not going to happen. It's not not going to happen because I'm scared. There wasn't a lot of competition.

Ali Abbasi: Through the crazy, I always knew this guy (Stan) was there. As a filmmaker to have this kind of ally and soldier, it's really essential.

Gabe Sherman: Sebastian was totally fearless. A lot of other actors turned down the role because they didn't want to play Trump.

Jeremy Strong: I met Ali at Telluride years ago. I had seen "Border" and "Holy Spider." He's this sort of Lynchian filmmaker. As he says, he likes to ride the dragon. I found him really compelling. But the real answer, I guess, is that Roy Cohn is probably the single most fascinating person I've ever studied and interrogated and attempted to inhabit.

Sebastian Stan: I've always seen the movie as an origin story. I also kind of saw it as about this ideology that seemed to really come together in the '80s. I go back to my roots and how I was introduced to this country much more than my particular interest in him per se. What stood out to me in the script and the story was this American Dream and ideology that's win at all costs.

Ali Abbasi: For me, the best comp for (Trump) is Barry Lyndon. When you think about Barry Lyndon, you don't think about that guy as being a bad guy or a good guy. He has this ambivalence and this uncanny ability to navigate. He wants to be somebody. He doesn't really know what or why. He just sort of wants to ascend.