A Different Man forced Adam Pearson to ‘confront’ a particular doubt he’s held when it comes to his career as an actor.
One of the central themes to A24’s latest release is surrounding identity and the film offers an insight into the tumultuous nature of being an actor through the characters of both Edward (Sebastian Stan) and Oswald (Pearson).
In A Different Man, Edward gives up on his dream of becoming a screen actor and turns to a profession in real estate. However, after spotting his former neighbor – a playwright – he tries to embark on a theatrical career, but ultimately ends up sidelined upon the arrival of Oswald.
When asked if there’s ever been a moment in his career where he’s struggled or even debated giving up on being an actor, Pearson jokes to LADbible: “Every morning, 9.00am, six inches from the mirror.”
However, he continues: “I think you decide what to be and go be it. And you push forward. […] And public opinion is a thing but I think you’re always where you need to be for a reason.”
The actor reflects it’s ‘certainly getting easier’ and acknowledges the industry has ‘gotten more inclusive and accessible for disabled actors,’ admitting he’s ‘nearly’ given up but ‘not quite’.
“There’s that little voice inside of you that says keep going, persevere, you’ll be alright,” he adds.
Taking part in A Different Man in particular challenged Pearson to ‘confront a little bit of, almost, imposter syndrome‘ that he was still holding onto.
‘A Different Man’ forced Adam Pearson to ‘confront a little bit of almost imposter syndrome’ (Matt Infante/ A24)
He explains the film is his fourth feature and he ‘rocked up’ thinking: “‘Why the hell are you here?’ ‘Are you here ‘cos you’re the only gig in town at this point?'”
But ultimately, Pearson reveals A Different Man proved to be a significant turning point in how he identifies as an actor.
He resolves: “This one is the one where I’m now happy to call myself an actor and not sort of a disabled actor – I think talent doesn’t need a qualifier.
“So for me, I sort of overcame a certain degree of imposter syndrome.”
And while Stan notes they had a ‘very good support system’ while working on the film in the form of writer and director Aaron Schimberg, Pearson had a special place he’d book into to find some moments of zen which Stan ‘never even knew […] existed’.
Adam Pearson would visit a cat cafe during the US press tour for the film as a way to unwind (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Universal)
Reflecting acting ‘is a rough thing anyway’ given how much time you spend ‘pretending to be someone else and that level of characterization,’ Pearson explains he’s a ‘big proponent of self care’ and during the US press tour for the film would regularly book himself into a cat cafe called Meow Parlour.
He adds: “I’m a big proponent of self love and putting little things in place, like quiet places or oases that you can go to to, that kind of re-energise your soul and give you joy.
“[…] So Friday, 12 ‘o’ clock, booked in, and just played with cats for an hour. And just doing things that regularly give your soul that breathing space are always a good thing to my mind.”
A Different Man is in cinemas now.
In A Different Man, Stan plays the role of aspiring actor Edward who has a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis which presents itself in the form of tumors on his face.
Left feeling isolated, Edward leaps at the change to undergo a radical medical procedure to remove the tumors, however, having the face of someone who is considered a conventionally attractive man doesn’t live up to everything he thought it would be.
The arrival of Oswald (Pearson) rubs salt in the wound and leaves Edward’s mental health deteriorating in a rapid and alarming manner.
When playing Edward pre-medical procedure, Stan was required to wear facial prosthetics to portray Edward’s neurofibromatosis and the actor tells LADbible the prosthetics really ‘informed [his] whole character’ and ‘the whole experience of going into the movie’.
What’s more, Stan also spent time ‘going out into the world,’ walking around New York City while wearing the prosthetics, which he reflects as being ‘extremely educational in terms of just seeing how people react or don’t react’.
Sebastian Stan wore the prosthetics out in public (A24)
When asked what wearing the prosthetics taught him, Stan tells LADbible: “What did I learn? I think the world’s a cruel place.”
The actor explains he thinks ‘people project’ and while he doesn’t think everyone ‘inherently […] has a bad intention or anything’ many people ‘just don’t know how to deal with difference’.
“Yet we all are different in so many ways,” Stan adds. “And there’s very few people that actually genuinely have the curiosity to understand someone.”
So few, that there was actually only one specific group of people who interacted with Stan while he was wearing the prosthetics in public.
He reveals: “The only people who made any contact with me at all in those prosthetics were children. Everybody else was just either too scared or too worried about themselves.”
Stan reflects his experience wearing the prosthetics in public really highlights how much people ‘still have to learn,’ resolving: “I wish everybody would get to walk around in some prosthetics in New York City for one day and see the world through those lenses. I think it was really important to experience.”
A Different Man is in cinemas now.
