Filmmakers of ‘The Apprentice’ Respond to Critics, Plan to Show Movie to Trump, Confident He Will Enjoy It
On Sunday morning, just hours after the North American premiere of The Apprentice — a film about the relationship between Donald Trump and his mentor Roy Cohn that everyone in the film community has been talking about for months — the principal creators of the film sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for their first stateside interview about the project. Director Ali Abbasi, writer Gabriel Sherman, and stars Sebastian Stan (Trump) and Jeremy Strong (Cohn), seated alongside each other on a giant sofa in a Telluride hotel suite, were still giddy about the fact that The Apprentice had finally made it to America and had been very warmly received because neither of those outcomes were assured.
Indeed, in the three months since the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Festival, backers of the film faced legal threats from the Trump campaign and resistance from the principal financial backer of the film, a Trump ally who was displeased with its portrayal of the man that threatened to keep it from ever being seen again. It was not until Friday morning that a deal was reached through which Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment and James Shani’s Rich Spirit bought out that financier’s interest in the film, paving the way for a U.S. theatrical release starting on Oct. 11, less than a month before the presidential election, and more immediately, for screenings at Telluride.
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How close did we come to this film not being here at this festival? I mean, I was already on the ground here when we reported that the deal had been completed and the film was coming…
[Everyone looks at each other and laughs]
STRONG What are we allowed to say?
ABBASI Don’t f***ing put me in this spot. [laughs]
STRONG I’ll go out on a limb and say I don’t think it was a given by any means.
SHERMAN I mean, nothing in Hollywood is a sure-thing. Every movie that gets made is a miracle. But we’re just so happy it’s here.
STRONG The stakes were very high, and a lot of people worked really hard to get us here.
The first screening of the film in the United States took place here last night, three months after the world premiere in Cannes. It wasn’t certain that the film would ever be seen again. I overheard a little bit about you guys saying that last night’s screening was a pretty heightened experience for you.
ABBASI I got genuinely nervous. I don’t usually get nervous in that situation because it’s part of my job to say shit and present, but I got nervous because I felt a little bit like I made a movie about neurosurgery and now I was going to show it to the Neurosurgery Association of America. It really got to me. I don’t know if it’s the high altitude or something, but I also got really emotional.