Being unrecognizable in a film is considered high praise. Disappearing so completely into a role that the audience only sees the character and not the actor underneath is one of the highest expressions of the craft. But going out in public and having your friends not even recognize you, that's something else entirely. And that's exactly what happened to actor Sebastian Stan. The man who plays Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films is currently starring in the critically acclaimed, I, Tonya. He plays Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly in the movie. While filming, he went to meet up with some of his Marvel co-stars at a bar in Atlanta and as he tells it, they did not recognize him.
I went and stood in the center of where everyone was hanging out and I realized that no one recognized me. I had this haircut that was really high, a mustache and no sideburns, and I was very pale. I stood there for a minute before I went up to someone and was like, 'Hey, it's me.'
That's the power of a strong mustache; it transforms who you are and how the world sees you. The Marvel crew must have wondered who this guy walking up and inserting himself with confidence was Of course, as noted by Esquire, Sebastian Stan does look wildly different in I, Tonya than in his MCU outings. The scruffy longhaired super soldier looks nothing like the shorthaired, mustachioed villain Jeff Gillooly. But it's hilarious given the co-stars he's worked with for years didn't recognize him. Now that is disappearing into a character. That must be extra fun for Sebastian Stan, considering the character he was playing is a real person.
Sebastian Stan plays Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya, Tonya Harding's infamous ex-husband who masterminded the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan and turned the figure skating world upside down. Margot Robbie totally transformed for the role of Tonya Harding in the stranger than fiction tale, and it appears that Sebastian Stan did the same. Of course, Sebastian Stan is no stranger to having his looks analyzed. Recently, he has frequently been told how much he looks like a young Mark Hamill, and how he could take on the role of Luke Skywalker in a future Star Wars film.
You can see Sebastian Stan in all his creepy mustache glory in I, Tonya, in theaters now. And you can catch him hanging out with his Marvel friends when the Winter Soldier gets thawed to fight some aliens in Avengers: Infinity War, in theaters on May 4, 2018. For all the biggest movies hitting theaters next year, check out our release guide.
