Sebastian Stan made Fjord before becoming a father. In his latest conversation with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, the actor described returning to the film with a different perspective.
“What are these things that I grew up with that I should pass on to my kid?” he asked, according to Entertainment Weekly. He was also considering which experiences had not served him well and should not be repeated.
Stan, 44, and his partner, actress Annabelle Wallis, welcomed their first child in July. PEOPLE confirmed the birth on Aug. 3; the couple had not shared further details about the baby at that point.
In Cristian Mungiu’s drama, Stan and Renate Reinsve play Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu. The film won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Film Follows a Family Facing a Child-Welfare Investigation
Mihai is a devout Romanian father who moves with his Norwegian wife and their five children to a remote coastal village. The children become friends with a neighboring family despite differences in their upbringing, while the adults’ strict beliefs attract increasing scrutiny, according to NEON’s synopsis.
Their adolescent daughter, Elia, arrives at school with bruises, prompting questions about how her parents discipline their children. The family’s home life becomes the subject of a child-welfare investigation, with concerns about the children colliding with questions of cultural prejudice.
Stan expects parents to respond differently, while acknowledging that the film gives reasons for the allegations. He also asks viewers to consider facing accusations and losing their children.
At Cannes in May, Reinsve described the difficulty of playing someone whose behavior differed so much from her own. She told reporters it was frightening to portray a person committing violence without recognizing it as wrong, Reuters reported. She and Stan had previously worked together in the 2024 film A Different Man.
Stan Drew on Family Memories, Then Changed His Appearance
Although Mihai’s upbringing differs from his own, Stan drew on traditional Eastern European men he knew, including his father and grandfather. The role also brought him back to his first language: he left Romania for Austria at 8 before moving to the United States at 12.
Speaking to PEOPLE at the film’s Toronto premiere on Sept. 10, Stan explained that the accent was familiar from hearing his mother speak. Working with a predominantly Romanian crew also brought back a shared humor and way of thinking he recognized from childhood.
Mungiu proposed shaving Stan’s head for the role. In a separate interview at the festival the following day, Stan said the goal was to make the characters believable as ordinary people. Mungiu said he wanted to draw on the actor’s talent rather than capitalize on his appearance or celebrity.
The director had begun writing the screenplay only after Stan agreed to take a leading role, Mungiu told reporters at Cannes. The script drew on real stories. During his Toronto interview, Mungiu described shooting on location with a small budget and having everyone stay in the same hotel. Stan had agreed to those working conditions and said he knew what to expect when he signed on.
He Spoke About Fatherhood Before the Baby Arrived
“I want to be a good dad,” Stan told Deadline in May, PEOPLE reported. He linked the responsibility of raising a child to becoming a better man, saying that at 43 he felt he was only beginning to learn. Reading was part of that effort: he said he sought out different viewpoints to understand how other people saw the world.
Raised by his mother and stepfather, Stan reconnected with his biological father at 18, EW reported. While accepting his Golden Globe for A Different Man, he thanked his stepfather, “who took on a single mom and a grown-up kid.”
Fjord opens in U.S. theaters on Oct. 9.