A 2010 raunchy movie helped save Marvel actor Sebastian Stan during one of the lowest points of his career. Stan has become a household name after playing Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His next appearance comes in May’s Thunderbolts* as one of the film’s leading characters. But as we’re learning, times weren’t always good for the Winter Soldier actor. Before the MCU came along, Stan was struggling for work, not knowing where his next gig was going to come from. Right before Marvel gave Stan a call, some money came flowing in from an ensemble comedy.
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Vanity Fair spoke to Sebastian Stan about his diverse career, when the topic inevitably turned to the MCU. The interview has comments from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who spoke about how the studio came to choose Stan to play Bucky Barnes. But the big revelation involves how Stan’s role in Hot Tub Time Machine helped keep money in his pockets when he was almost broke.
“You could see that he has so much inside him and so much behind his eyes. I’ll never forget that,” Feige said. “I said to Stephen Broussard, who was one of the producers on Captain America, ‘He’s going to be a good Bucky, but he’s going to be a great Winter Soldier.’”
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Stan then commented on what Hot Tub Time Machine did for his career. “I was actually struggling with work,” he said. “I had just gotten off the phone with my business manager, who told me I was saved by $65,000 that came in residuals from Hot Tub Time Machine.”
Directed by Steve Pink, Hot Tub Time Machine starred John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, and Chevy Chase. The plot involves a group of friends who reconnect at a ski resort. When their partying causes the hot tub they’re sitting in to get doused with alcohol, it turns into a time machine that sends them back to 1986. Stan plays the ski resort bully named Blaine, though you may not recognize him with his shorter brown hair.
Sebastian Stan was a relative unknown when he got cast as Bucky Barnes. One of his bigger roles came as a rich bully on Gossip Girl. The actor’s Marvel contract was a nine-picture deal, one of the longer deals that Marvel gave out at the time. The only one that came close was the deal that Samuel L. Jackson signed to play S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury.
Those nine appearances consist of Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If…?, Captain America: Brave New World, and the upcoming Thunderbolts*. It’s already been confirmed that Stan will appear alongside his Thunderbolts teammates in Avengers: Doomsday, so there must be some wiggle room in the fine print.
It’s not uncommon to see stars work out new deals for more appearances. For example, Marvel Studios constantly worked with Robert Downey Jr. to bring him back for projects like Captain America: Civil War. Even after his character of Iron Man was killed in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel convinced Downey to return as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. We say all of this to say that fans shouldn’t worry themselves over whether we’ve seen the last of Bucky Barnes.
Sebastian Stan can next be seen in Thunderbolts*, arriving in theaters on May 2nd.
