An Interview With Sebastian Stan From I, Tonya

Jake: This week I am with Sebastian Stan. Many of you have probably seen I, Tonya and Sebastian’s performance in that piece. We are going to have an interesting conversation with Sebastian, looking at I, Tonya from the perspective of an actor and also from the perspective of a writer. And we’re going to be discussing something that is important to a lot of writers, which is understanding how an actor approaches a role, how a script develops beyond the point where you’ve sold it and then into the production side, and how a script evolves. And also understanding what an actor like Sebastian looks for in a script: how you know when that is the role I want to play. So, I wanted to just start off by asking you a little bit about when you first read Steven Roger’s script. What did you connect to about it that made you go, “I’ve got to play Jeff”?   Sebastian: It was kind of a hard one, to be honest, because it was so controversial. He was such a hated character; he was such a hated person in real life. And in that aspect, it was really difficult-- you start wondering whether that is something you could even do or you could even play. There was a lot of judgment there. But, looking at it just as a script, and then as an actor looking at it, it felt like a goldmine. It was always unpredictable. It was tragic at certain times and it was shocking and then it could be funny. And there seemed to be a very strong degree of honesty to it. You’re always looking for how authentic certain voices sound. And later I did find out a lot of the dialogue in the script came from the interviews that he had directly with them-- not to take away from his genius writing-- it just had a very authentic air to it, and I think you look for that. And then as an actor you’re challenged by that because you go, “I don’t know if I could do that… and I can’t stop thinking about it.” And I think, in that case, also them being real life characters had a lot to do with it. The whole thing was so sensationalized that you couldn’t really believe that these people existed or that they were capable of that. And it kind of led on a whole tangent of wanting to search for stuff. Jake: Yeah I think it is interesting because, in a way, all of our stories come from life; even the most fictional stories come from life. And there is an interesting theme in I, Tonya that there is no one truth. Sebastian: Right. Jake: And you know even like the breaking of the fourth wall, like, “Yeah, this didn’t happen like this.” Sebastian: Yeah, and it is interesting the fourth wall because that wasn’t in the script originally. That was the director coming in and suggesting that we break the fourth wall in the scenes. I could have seen Steven Rogers come up with that--but you know, the director just finished his sentence so to speak. So I feel like it is important to find that counterpart in your director. Jake: Yeah I think it is an interesting thing about process for writers in that we see a lot of bad movies come out of Hollywood. And so, a lot of people are under the impression, “Oh I will just give them the idea and then they will figure it out.” But you can see with a movie like I, Tonya when the writer has really done his job, and really built the movie around that theme. what it allows an actor to do with the role to make those kind of creative decisions about how you are going to perform it. Sebastian: I always think it starts with the writing. I think that is the most important and the hardest part. I’ve always thought that actors make better actors with good material, which is why the in plays that you go to at the theatre sometimes end up being such great characters-- like those Tennessee Williams’ plays-- and those writers who sort of fleshed out these characters that you don’t usually get to see so much of nowadays. Steven Rogers-- first of all, two funny things about him as a writer-- One of them is he wrote this part for Allison Janney. Every movie he’s written he has always written a part for her, but he could never hire her, he could never get her. She didn’t even know! Because the director or the studio-- somebody would want somebody else.   And he actually, finally, in writing at the negotiations of this thing told them, “I am not going to do this movie, I’m not giving you the script unless you have her attached to play that part.” And the other thing is, what fascinated me about him was that he wrote this Christmas movie and he apparently just woke up and was like, “Well okay like what is the furthest away I can do anything from a Christmas movie?” Then he saw this 30 for 30:  and he was like, “Oh I, Tonya,” and I am like, “Okay well great, I wish I could wake up tomorrow and go like, ‘well I don’t want to do that theme anymore, I am just going to go onto this theme and produce this.’” Jake: And he is a guy who is famous for rom coms. Sebastian: Yeah I mean, I guess he wanted to change it up and go somewhere else with it. It was a very interesting script in the sense that you had these documentary types to die for, it was very similar to that in the sense that you know they talked to the camera. Jake: So, I want to talk to you a little bit about research. I read some of your interviews about this, and you’ve talked a lot about how you felt, “I am not Jeff Gillooly.” And it was a little hard at the beginning to ask yourself, ‘How am I supposed to see myself in this role?’ And I think it’s interesting for writers because---I know for myself personally-- no matter how much I’m in love with a character, there is a point in the writing where you are like, “This is just the worst character ever.” You kind of fall out of love with them, and you have to find a way to fall back in love with them or to like recognize the piece of you that does live in them, or like the dream that you have that you share with them. And I’m curious about, how do you allow yourself to fall in love with a Jeff Gillooly in order to play him? Sebastian: Well first off let me start with when you approach material, usually you know if it isn't a real person you kind of have free reign---not free reign but you are sort of, you are building a life from what you see on the script. And you by talking to the writer you are kind of going, “Okay this is going to maybe-- it could go here, it could go there.” But here, I didn’t really have that opportunity. It was much more, “This is the guy, so you are going to have to mold more to something.” And in a way, maybe it is difficult because you are stuck in a box. And then in another way it is easier because at least you know where to target, so you are eliminating a lot of time researching stuff that won’t be necessary but you won’t know then unless you do it. And the thing about him was that he is very difficult to read as a person. And then virtually everything that I found on him online was just really sort of negative despicable kind of thoughts people had. There was nothing on him. “What was he like as a child? What was their relationship like when they started, was it always that chaotic? He denied everything, okay why? What does that mean? What is he like now at 50?” So it was kind of a big question mark, except for these videos where I would see him sort of make these terrible faces, uncomfortable, like walking through as he is getting arrested. But again, even when you have a real person, there is a tremendous responsibility for you with that. No matter what kind of person it is, you always have to go back to the script. Because, as an actor, that is your job, that is your map. And what is in the script is what you’ve got to follow. In terms of finding something about him, in a weird way I had to come around and try to blend-- and this was in the script also-- this idea that they were this Sid and Nancy kind of crazy couple. And then Margot and I together basically built on that and tried to piece it in terms of, “okay well was it always like this? Was there a good part of it at some point? Was there a time when they were okay or not? And how did it get to this? Was it because she got more famous? Did he get more scared?” Understanding it like a really unconventional, toxic, terrifying-love story, in a way kind of opened me up to sort of something with him that was a little bit more understandable. Jake: One of the things that I loved about your performance was that for me you really humanized a person that is hard to humanize. Sebastian: Thank you. Jake: And I think this is interesting as a writer as well because you know often times like in your first draft, your character feels like a little bit of a cartoon, or it feels like a little bit like “I got this one aspect of them but I am missing the full life that lives underneath there.” So I always think of an actor as doing a rewrite of my script. But in a good way, in the same way that I would do a rewrite of my script. “Okay what is this really about? What is the one God I’m really worshiping here?” And for me in I, Tonya like it is the God of “there is like no one truth.” Sebastian: Right. As a part of the backbone of what the thing is. Jake: So like at least from my perspective, everything in that script serves it. From the fact that I have a very specific idea of who Tonya Harding, is but it’s not true. But Tonya has a specific idea of who Tonya Harding is and that isn't true either. And Jeff has an idea of who Jeff is and that isn't true. But it also, it is true to him. Or even like Allison Janney’s character. She has a very strong story about how she is a good mom-- Sebastian: In her mind yeah. Jake: And we can see that that isn't true. And then you know the whole movie kind of builds to Tonya basically saying “all the truth is bullshit.” Sebastian: Yes, yeah, you mean like kind of like a button to that thing, so to speak?