Sebastian Stan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sebastian Stan
Stan in 2024
Born	(1982-08-13) August 13, 1982 (age 42) Constanța, Romanian SR
Citizenship	Romania United States
Education	Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2003–present
Awards	Full list

Sebastian Stan (born August 13, 1982) is an actor from Romania who also became an American citizen. He is famous for his roles in both big Hollywood movies and smaller, independent films. He has won important awards like a Golden Globe Award and a Silver Bear. He has also been nominated for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Sebastian Stan started acting in films and plays in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He first became well-known for playing Carter Baizen in the TV show Gossip Girl (2007–2010). He also played the Mad Hatter in Once Upon a Time (2012). He became globally famous for his role as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He first appeared as Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). He also starred in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and the movie Thunderbolts* (2025). On Broadway, Stan acted in the play Talk Radio (2007) and starred in Picnic (2013).

Stan has also appeared in many other successful movies. These include supporting roles in The Martian (2015) and main roles in I, Tonya (2017) and Fresh (2022). For playing Tommy Lee in the Hulu series Pam & Tommy (2022), he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In 2024, Stan received great praise for playing a man with a rare condition in the movie A Different Man. He also played a young Donald Trump in the movie The Apprentice. He won a Silver Bear and a Golden Globe Award for A Different Man. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Apprentice.

Early Life and Education

Sebastian Stan was born on August 13, 1982, in Constanța, Romania. His mother, a pianist, named him after the famous composer Johann Sebastian Bach. His parents divorced when he was two years old. When he was eight, he and his mother moved to Vienna, Austria. She worked there as a pianist. Four years later, they moved to Rockland County, New York, in the United States. This happened after his mother married a school headmaster. He grew up in the Romanian Orthodox Church.

During his school years in Rockland, Stan acted in many school plays. These included Harvey, Cyrano de Bergerac, and West Side Story. He also went to a summer acting camp called Stagedoor Manor. There, he performed in many camp shows. It was at this time that he decided to become a serious actor. He applied to acting programs at several universities. He attended Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. This allowed him to study acting for a year in London, England, at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. He finished his studies at Rutgers in 2005. Stan became a United States citizen in 2002.

Acting Career

Early Roles and Broadway

Stan with Liev Schreiber at the 2007 Drama League Awards

After a small part in the 1994 film 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, Stan's acting career truly began in 2003. He had a role on the TV show Law & Order. After this, he appeared in several films. These included Tony n' Tina's Wedding, The Architect, and The Covenant (both from 2006). Then, he got a recurring role as Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl starting in 2007. Stan later had a main role in the 2009 series Kings as Jack Benjamin.

In 2010, he appeared in Darren Aronofsky's ballet movie Black Swan. He also played the bad guy Blaine in the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. In 2011, he played Bucky Barnes in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger. This film was based on the Marvel Comics character. This was his first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He later signed a contract for nine more Marvel films.

In 2012, Stan starred in the thriller Gone and the horror film The Apparition. He also started a recurring role in the TV series Once Upon a Time. He played the Mad Hatter in this show. Critics praised his work in his first episode, "Hat Trick". The same year, he also appeared in the miniseries Political Animals. He played the troubled son of a former First Lady. This role earned him a nomination for an award. In 2013, Stan played Hal Carter in the play Picnic in New York.

Marvel Movies and I, Tonya

Stan at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Stan played Bucky Barnes again. His character was now called the Winter Soldier. This was the first movie of his nine-film contract with Marvel. In 2015, he played Joshua Brummel in Ricki and the Flash. He also co-starred in The Martian as NASA scientist Dr. Chris Beck. He also appeared in The Bronze as Lance Tucker. Stan then played the Winter Soldier again in Ant-Man (a short appearance) (2015) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).

In 2017, Stan co-starred as NASCAR driver Dayton White in Steven Soderbergh's comedy Logan Lucky. He also starred in the drama I'm Not Here. That same year, he co-starred in Craig Gillespie's movie I, Tonya. He played Jeff Gillooly alongside Margot Robbie, who played Tonya Harding.

In 2018, Stan played Winter Soldier again in Black Panther (a short appearance) and Avengers: Infinity War. He then appeared with Nicole Kidman in the thriller film Destroyer (2018). Stan played Charles Blackwood in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This film was based on a book by Shirley Jackson. Stan's first film of 2019 was Avengers: Endgame, where he played Winter Soldier again. His second film that year, Endings, Beginnings, was shown at a film festival in September.

Stan starred as Scott Huffman in the war drama The Last Full Measure (released in January 2020). He also appeared in Monday and The Chain. In February 2019, he took over a role from his Marvel co-star Chris Evans in the crime drama The Devil All the Time. This movie was released on Netflix in 2020. In April 2019, Disney announced a Marvel TV series starring Stan and Anthony Mackie. The show, called The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, started airing on Disney+ on March 19, 2021. It finished on April 23, 2021. In May 2019, Stan joined the cast of the spy thriller The 355 (released in 2022).

Recent Success and Awards

Stan then starred as Tommy Lee with Lily James as Pamela Anderson in the Hulu series Pam & Tommy (2022). The show was about a private video of them that was stolen in 1995. Critics said their performances were "astonishing" and that they looked and sounded just like the real people. For his role, he was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. He also starred in the Hulu thriller film Fresh (2022) with Daisy Edgar-Jones.

In 2023, Stan starred with Julianne Moore in the thriller Sharper on Apple TV+. The next year, he won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance award for his role in A Different Man. He played a man with a condition called neurofibromatosis. He also played a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice. For both roles, he received nominations for Golden Globe Awards. He won the Golden Globe for A Different Man. For The Apprentice, he was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In June 2025, Stan was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Stan played Bucky Barnes again in 2025 in Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. He will also play the character in Avengers: Doomsday.

Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
1994	71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance	Kid in Subway
2004	Tony n' Tina's Wedding	Johnny Nunzio
2005	Red Doors	Simon
2006	Architect, TheThe Architect	Martin Waters
	Covenant, TheThe Covenant	Chase Collins
2007	Education of Charlie Banks, TheThe Education of Charlie Banks	Leo Reilly
2008	Rachel Getting Married	Walter
2009	Spread	Harry
2010	Hot Tub Time Machine	Blaine
	Black Swan	Andrew / Suitor
2011	Captain America: The First Avenger	James "Bucky" Barnes
2012	Gone	Billy
	Apparition, TheThe Apparition	Ben Curtis
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier	James "Bucky" Barnes / Winter Soldier
2015	Ant-Man		Uncredited cameo; post-credits scene
	Bronze, TheThe Bronze	Lance Tucker
	Ricki and the Flash	Joshua Brummel
	Martian, TheThe Martian	Dr. Chris Beck
2016	Captain America: Civil War	James "Bucky" Barnes / Winter Soldier
2017	Logan Lucky	Dayton White
	I, Tonya	Jeff Gillooly
	I'm Not Here	Steve
2018	Destroyer	Det. Chris
	We Have Always Lived in the Castle	Charles Blackwood
	Black Panther	James "Bucky" Barnes / White Wolf	Uncredited cameo; post-credits scene
	Avengers: Infinity War
2019	Avengers: Endgame
	Endings, Beginnings	Frank
	Last Full Measure, TheThe Last Full Measure	Scott Huffman
2020	Devil All the Time, TheThe Devil All the Time	Lee Bodecker
	Monday	Mickey
2022	355, TheThe 355	Nick Fowler
	Fresh	Steve
2023	Sharper	Max
	Ghosted	God
	Dumb Money	Vlad Tenev
2024	A Different Man	Edward Lemuel / Guy Moratz	Also executive producer
	The Apprentice	Donald Trump
2025	Captain America: Brave New World	James "Bucky" Barnes	Uncredited cameo
	Thunderbolts*
2026	Avengers: Doomsday		Filming
TBA	Fjord	TBA	Post-production

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television Roles

Theatre Roles

Video Games

Music Videos

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sebastian Stan para niños