We’ve seen many films featuring characters with some form of extreme facial disfigurement, whether it’s The Elephant Man, Mask, or most recently, Wonder. While these people were all played by actors, you won’t find that to be the case with A Different Man, one of the most talked about films out of Sundance this year. The reason is that alongside star Sebastian Stan is Adam Pearson, a British actor who actually suffers from neurofibromatosis. You might recognize Pearson from Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin.
In A Different Man, Stan plays a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes radical surgery to start again and become a new man. But he soon becomes obsessed with an actor hired to portray him in a play about his life.
Also in the cast are Renate Reinsve, C. Mason Wells, Owen Kline, Charlie Korsmo, Patrick Wang, and Michael Shannon who plays himself. The film was written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, known for the 2018 film Chained for Life which also starred Pearson.
Cortland Jacoby’s review out of Sundance praised Schimberg for his “radical” approach to the representation of people with disabilities. She also had glowing words for Stan’s performance, while acknowledging some disconnect with the film in the final act.
A Different Man opens in theaters on September 20th via A24.
