Sebastian Stan’s bizarre interaction with fan—”Didn’t know how to deal”

Sebastian Stan “didn’t know how to deal” with a fan interaction on the street after they expressed serious concern for his wellbeing.

While promoting his movies A Different Man and The Apprentice on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, the actor brought up the “extreme fandom” cultivated by Marvel Studios, for which he’s played Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier on screen since 2014.

He told Maron that his openness about personal struggles has ultimately backfired on him, with the public often misinterpreting the situation.

Stan, who said that portraying Donald Trump in The Apprentice was “an intricate job to try to map out”, said: “I’ve always been very open about my own struggles because I felt it’s what keeps me connected to the planet right? I don’t have it figured out. I’m trying to do this as best as I can [like] everybody else and for the most part I think that’s helped people in a way.

“But I also realized that sometimes when you want to branch out of that, you can’t,” he added, before alluding to the time somebody approached him with good intentions that landed awkwardly.

“I didn’t know how to deal with it because they came and they said, ‘Hey are you OK? I just wanted to make sure you’re OK.’ I was like, ‘I’m really OK.'”

He blames social media for manufacturing a tangible “gap between the real world and this make-believe reality” that has scrambled people’s perceptions.

Podcaster Maron also asked if it’s generally quite hard for Stan to walk around in public unnoticed. “Weirdly it is yeah,” his guest confirmed. “There’s always this plan that has to happen [if he wants to go outside in New York] which is annoying.

“It’s a blessing and a curse. I mean, there’s also some beautiful people that are so supportive. The thing about [The Winter Soldier] is that he actually had a lot of emotional baggage that he overcomes and he has to make peace with his past, so there’s a lot of people that relate. Especially vets for instance, [they] have come up to me and they tell me the character helped them deal with depression or addiction or PTSD, so from that standpoint it’s very fulfilling.”

Stan also offered his host some advice on what to do if a fan turns up at his house.

“You just say, which I did once, ‘Hey listen this is nice but I’ve seen you twice now and maybe the third time I might have to… I don’t know, tell someone,'” he laughed.