Sebastian Stan reveals How a $65K check saved him before Marvel fame.
Hollywood is full of inspiring stories, and Sebastian Stan’s journey is one of them. Today, he is best known as Bucky Barnes, also called the Winter Soldier, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But before his big break, things were not easy for him. Recently, in an interview with Vanity Fair, Stan opened up about the tough time he faced before becoming a Hollywood star.
Stan shared that he was struggling financially and didn’t know what the future held. Surprisingly, it was a $65,000 check from a past role that helped him stay afloat. He earned this money in residuals from the 2010 comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. He said, “I was struggling with work. I had just gotten off the phone with my business manager, who told me I was saved by $65,000 that came in residuals from Hot Tub Time Machine.”
That lucky break came just in time. In 2011, Stan was cast in Captain America: The First Avenger. This marked the start of his journey in the MCU, where he went on to play Bucky Barnes in several major Marvel projects. These include The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and the upcoming film Thunderbolts.
Being part of the Marvel universe made Sebastian Stan a global star. But it also gave him the freedom to take on bold and artistic roles outside of the superhero world. He won a Golden Globe for his performance in A Different Man and even received an Oscar nomination for playing Donald Trump in The Apprentice.
His Marvel co-star and friend Chris Evans also praised him for being brave in his acting choices. Evans said, “Sebastian has always been fearless. You can see that in his choices. When that Trump movie was kicking around, I remember thinking, ‘Who’s going to take this job?’ I was so unsurprised when I heard it was Sebastian.”
Now, riding high on his Oscar nomination, Stan is ready to return as Bucky Barnes in Marvel’s Thunderbolts, which is set to release this May. The film also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
And that’s not all — Marvel has confirmed that Sebastian Stan will also appear in the much-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday, which is set to hit theaters in 2026. His journey from struggling actor to Hollywood A-lister is nothing short of inspiring, showing that persistence and passion can truly pay off.
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