Fantastic dark comedy from Aaron Schimberg Another man is one of the richest, strangest films of 2024 – a film about a man who radically changes his appearance and his life, but is haunted by the success of someone who looks exactly the same as he used to. It is a perfect viewing companion for The fabricanother hazy, disturbing film from 2024 about a beautiful changeling battling a former version of himself. But Schimberg’s take on the story is funnier and more down-to-earth, built around believable performances and a situation steeped in both reality and fantasy.
Sebastian Stan (the MCU’s Winter Soldier; Donald Trump in the 2024 film The student) stars as Edward, an actor with significant facial tumors who lives in isolation until he begins to get to know his new neighbor Ingrid (The worst person in the world star Renate Reinsve). A radical new neurofibromatosis treatment gives him a new face, so he adopts a new identity and finds success in every aspect of his life, except his relationship with Ingrid – especially when a wildly popular, cheerfully charismatic man named Oswald (Under the skin‘s Adam Pearson), who looks exactly like Edward used to, enters their lives.
Like so many doppelgänger films (Double, Enemy, The DoubleAnd Crest immediately comes to mind) Another man is disgusted by the idea of someone confronting a more successful version of themselves that represents roads not taken and choices not made. But unlike most of those films, Another man is sharply funny, if not tragic or terrifying. Polygon spoke with Stan as well as previous film partners Pearson and Schimberg (who worked together on the 2019 drama series Chained for life) at the 2024 Fantastic Fest Film Festival to discuss how they found the right tone for the film.
(Ed. remark: This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Polygon: A lot of this movie is about seething and suppressing a huge frustration with how the world works and how people work. It all builds to a quite unexpected cathartic point at the end. Sebastian, how did you approach playing that breakdown??
Sebastian Stan: Well, we do that all the time. We’re always suppressing things, so (in a role like this) you just keep doing it more elaborately.
But I think there are so many things you read that try to explain things (in movies). They are always overwritten. This usually happens with bigger budget films, where the worry is always that the audience won’t understand what’s happening, so you have to make sure they understand. I’m so grateful that we didn’t have to deal with that kind of thinking and approach in this. Because instead of (explaining the ending) – I think it’s interpretation. People will recognize themselves in that moment or think differently about it. You don’t want to comment on that, but you want to tell people what to think about it.
I will say it’s interesting: Edward and Oswald and Ingrid, they all need each other in a strange way, and they’re all kind of like planets that revolve around each other in a necessary way, whether there are all these other feelings. It’s a mix of emotions. It’s not just one thing that drives him at the end of the movie, it’s a lot of things. There is probably an inner battle going on between being in awe of these people and at the same time being incredibly hateful and angry at these people.
After the Fantastic Fest screening, you said in a Q&A session that you worked with Adam to discover how Edward would have experienced life, given his condition. You said Adam was very generous with his life experience. What did you learn from him that was important in playing Edward?
Stan: Well, one of the things that was my job – and Aaron brought this up in rehearsal – was to find out (Edward’s) backstory. Who was Edward? How did he get this apartment, how did he decide to become an actor? What happened to his mother? There were things that weren’t in the script.
So I researched and created a backstory, looked at things online and talked to people who, for example, had been dealing with weight issues and had lost weight drastically, and had an identity crisis as a result. And then just sniffing out everything I could that was online from anyone dealing with neurofibromatosis or other ailments or deformities.
Many of those people were orphans. They talked about being abandoned by their families. So there were things there. But with Adam I actually had someone next to me to ask questions about how he grew up, or what he had experienced, just on a playground.
(To Adam) I think my biggest lesson was: You had a very strong support system in your family and in your mother, who, from what I understood, always said, ‘Look, you’re going to walk through this room with your head held high, no matter what . what’s happening.” And a lot of people didn’t have that.
But at the same time, this didn’t necessarily mean he didn’t encounter the same set of stereotypical responses from everyone around him. For me personally, maybe (the important lesson) was understanding this ownership that Adam has over himself, in more ways, I think, than over myself, or over other people I know in the world. Maybe even more than Edward.
Adam, what was your side of that? What did you think was important to see in Edward or to see in this film?
Adam Pearson: First of all, regarding the conversations that me and Sebastian had, unless someone was really honest, there was no point in having them. It can be very easy to water it down and skip the more profound moments. So that would have been an incredibly counterproductive endeavor.
And for me it was mainly about trust. (To Stan) I can only give you so much information or equip you so far, and I have to take my hands off the range and trust that you know what you’re doing at the end of the matter. And luckily I got there very quickly.
I think Sebastian has a warmth and integrity beyond his years, beyond what you see in other actors. And then there’s Aaron’s great writing and understanding of the field. I had no qualms or concerns that this could go the other way and become stereotypical or problematic. So yeah, you come in, you trust the material, you trust the people you work with, and you come at everything with honesty, integrity, a clear head, and a full heart. And then you can’t go wrong.
Aaron, the tone of this movie is so complicated. There are so many things going on with drama and comedy. How did all three of you work to achieve the desired tone?
Aaron Schimberg: I worry about tone before I ever start writing. I don’t worry about how I’m going to do it. I worry about what it will look like, and I worry so much that I don’t write. I procrastinate. And eventually, when I can’t stand it any longer, I’ll write a scene. And once I start writing the scene, the tone becomes clear to me.
I discovered this to be the truth, such as it is: everything I’ve written seems to come naturally. I guess on the one hand, I think with every film I make, or every project I undertake, I take something that’s painful for me and that I want to explore and put it under the microscope. It comes from a place of trauma or whatever, not to overuse that word.
And then I also have distance from it, and a comic side to it. I want to make it light, I don’t want to make it dark. And these two things together create this tone, not to overanalyze it. And then I think the tone is kind of set in the script, but when I get everyone together, sometimes it tilts a little more towards tracking and sometimes it tilts a little more towards comedy. And I designed it something like this. And my only job is really to make sure that there are guardrails so that it doesn’t tip in one direction, or so that it doesn’t become too heavy. And we make sure we bring it back – we put a comedic moment into something dark. But I also just have to pass it on to my employees, who can interpret this tone.
I knew what Adam was capable of. I wrote the part for him. And the first time I spoke to Sebastian, I knew he understood this tone. So that just reassured me. Sebastian’s performance is both tragic and comic. (I had) a general fear of it, because without this tonal balance the whole thing falls apart. But I don’t know if I have that much control over it, or if I’m protecting it from falling apart.
That’s a lot like what Adam said last night about dealing with imposter syndrome during the Q&A, about the only people who never get imposter syndrome, the impostors.
Pearson: Yes. It’s just such a strange thing; I’ve thought about it a lot, because I experience everything with a certain amount of self-doubt and nervousness. And for years it bothered me, like: You should be over this feeling now. But then one of my friends pulled me aside and said, “If that feeling ever leaves you, you’re not in the right place.” Because it means you don’t care.”
Another man is now available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, Apple TV and other platforms.