Sebastian Stan

**Sebastian 'Seb' Stan** (born August 13, 1982) is a Romanian-American actor, known for his role as James 'Bucky' Buchanan Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On television, Stan portrayed Carter Baizen in *Gossip Girl*, Prince Jack Benjamin in *Kings*, Jefferson in *Once Upon a Time*, and T.J. Hammond in the miniseries *Political Animals*. His role in *Political Animals* earned him a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. In 2015, he co-starred in Jonathan Demme's *Ricki and the Flash*, **Ridley Scott's** ***The Martian* where he plays Doctor Christopher 'Chris' Beck**, and Bryan Buckley's *The Bronze*.

## **1982: The Meme is Born**

Sebastian was born in Constanța, Romania. He has stated that his parents divorced when he was 2 years old. At age 8, Stan and his mother, Georgeta Orlovschi, moved to Vienna, Austria following the Romanian Revolution, where Georgeta was employed as a pianist. Four years later, they moved to Rockland County, New York, after his mother married Anthony Fruhauf, the headmaster of Rockland Country Day School, where Seb was educated.

During Seb's years at the Rockland school, he starred in productions including *Harvey*, *Cyrano de Bergerac*, *Little Shop of Horrors*, *Over Here!*, and *West Side Story*. He also attended the Stagedoor Manor summer camp where he was cast in many camp productions. It was then that he decided to take acting seriously and began to apply for acting programs at several universities. He was accepted to and attended Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, which also gave him the opportunity to spend a year abroad studying acting at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, England. Sebastian became a United States citizen in 2002.

## **Career**

### **2009**

After several film and television roles, including *The Covenant* and *Gossip Girl*, Stan landed a lead role in the 2009 series *Kings* as Jack Benjamin.

### **2010**

In 2010, he appeared in Darren Aronofsky's ballet thriller, *Black Swan*. He also began filming the supernatural horror film *The Apparition* in February that year; the film was released on August 24, 2012. Stan played Blaine, the main antagonist of *Hot Tub Time Machine* in March 2010.

### **2011**

In July 2011, he portrayed Bucky Barnes in the film *Captain America: The First Avenger*, based on the Marvel Comics character. It was his first film in a nine-picture contract he has with Marvel Studios.

### **2012**

In 2012, he starred in the thriller *Gone* and began a recurring role in *Once Upon a Time* as the Mad Hatter. *The A.V. Club* described his work in "Hat Trick", his premiere episode, as "excellent" and placed the episode in their list of the 30 best episodes of 2012 from series which did not make their top list. He also appeared in the USA Network miniseries *Political Animals* as the troubled gay son of the former first lady. This role resulted in a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries.

### **2013**

In 2013, Stan played the role of Hal Carter in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of William Inge's *Picnic*, at the American Airlines Theatre in New York.

### **2014**

In 2014, Stan reprised his role as Bucky Barnes in *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*.

### **2015**

In 2015, Stan played Joshua Brummel in *Ricki and the Flash*, and co-starred in *The Martian*, as NASA scientist Dr. Chris Beck and was in Bryan Buckley's *The Bronze*.

### **2016**

In 2016, he reprised his role as the Winter Soldier in the third Captain America film, *Captain America: Civil War*, and will portray the character in *Avengers: Infinity War* in 2018, and its *untitled sequel* in 2019.

### **2017 Onwards**

Stan will portray Charles Blackwood in *We Have Always Lived in the Castle*, an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name. He will also star alongside J. K. Simmons in the drama film *I'm Not Here*, and has been cast as a NASCAR driver in Steven Soderbergh's comedy film *Logan Lucky*. He is set to portray Jeff Gillooly, alongside Margot Robbie, in Craig Gillespie's biopic *I, Tonya*, based on the rivalry between figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

## **Personal Life**

Stan dated his *Gossip Girl* co-star Leighton Meester from 2008 and 2010, and his *Once Upon a Time* co-star Jennifer Morrison from May 2012 to August 2013. Since 2014, he has been dating his *Spread* co-star Margarita Levieva.

BuddyTV ranked him #30 on its list of TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2009, and #36 in 2012. He was also included in the list of TV's 25 Sexiest Brothers, ranking ninth.