Early career near-misses? Sebastian Stan has no regrets: "I don't think I was really ready"
Sebastian Stan is talking about the hit roles that slipped through his fingers — and you’ll recognize the ones he almost landed.
On Josh Horowitz’s podcast Happy Sad Confused, Sebastian Stan ran through the big gigs that almost were — and why he’s fine with how it all shook out. He said he turned down a lead on The Vampire Diaries and auditioned for both Star Trek and Green Lantern, but ultimately believes he wasn’t ready for the kind of instant spotlight those roles can bring.
- The Vampire Diaries — offered the role of Stefan Salvatore; he passed
- Star Trek — auditioned; didn’t land it
- Green Lantern — auditioned; didn’t land it
Why he said no to TVD
Stan said he’d just finished the first season of Kings when that CW vampire drama came calling, and the sting of that show’s cancellation left him wary of jumping right back into another long-term TV commitment.
“And I had just come off Kings, and I sort of felt really burnt out from that not working out and just sort of the idea of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m just going to sign up again for something that probably is not going to get to the second season.’”
He added that after doing the supernatural film The Covenant, he wasn’t eager to head into another supernatural project so soon — another reason he passed on Stefan.
Not ready for early fame
Looking back, Stan said the timing worked in his favor. Before breaking out as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he felt he might not have handled that level of attention as a younger actor.
“Now looking back, I feel grateful in a way ’cause I don’t know if I was really ready for that kind of exposure when I was younger, to be honest.”
The Stefan Salvatore role ultimately went to Paul Wesley. Stan’s path led elsewhere — and eventually to Marvel, where he found his groove as the Winter Soldier.