The Apprentice, a fearsome new film about Donald Trump’s rise to power in 1970s New York from director Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider), centers on the former president’s relationship with a lawyer and fixer who changed his life: Roy Cohn. A seasoned prosecutor, Cohn became Trump’s mentor, schooling him in the art of aggressive business dealings, pontificating to the press, and molding the truth to fit the narrative you’ve constructed for yourself. But as his protégé built Trump Tower, grew more powerful, married his first wife, Ivana, and eclipsed the legacy established by his father, Fred, Cohn faced a tragic decline.
As for who plays whom in this big-screen retelling? With The Apprentice opening in theaters this weekend, we compare its starry cast to their formidable real-life counterparts.
Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
Born in Romania and raised in the United States, the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Award nominee—best known for his work on Gossip Girl, Pam Tommy, I, Tonya, and Fresh, as well as in the part of Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—dons prosthetics and a wispy wig to play a young Donald J. Trump. The son of real estate developer Fred Trump, Donald graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and soon became his father’s heir apparent and the president of the family business. He came to public prominence in 1973, when Trump Management was sued by the US justice department for alleged discrimination against Black tenants. To fight their case, Donald enlisted the help of the notorious lawyer Roy Cohn, and it ended in a settlement.
From that point onwards, aided by Cohn’s friendship and countless connections, Donald’s rise was swift: he constructed Trump Tower, expanded to ventures in Atlantic City, and, in 2004, began hosting the reality competition show The Apprentice. In 2015, he announced he would be running for president and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
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As Succession’s “eldest boy” Kendall Roy, the Boston native and Yale graduate has collected a Golden Globe, Emmy, Critics Choice Award, and two SAG Awards, though he’s equally excellent in the likes of The Big Short, and The Trial of the Chicago 7. (A formidible presence on stage, too, Strong won a Tony for his performance in Sam Gold and Amy Herzog’s Broadway revival of An Enemy of the People.) In The Apprentice, he takes on yet another deliciously complex part: that of Roy Cohn, the fixer who was instrumental to Donald Trump’s ascent.
Born in the Bronx, Cohn, who received his degree from Columbia Law School, was known for being a virulent anti-Communist. He played a prominent role in the 1951 espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, ensuring the pair’s conviction and execution, and worked closely with Joseph McCarthy on his anti-Communist hearings. He also served as an informal advisor to Richard Nixon and practiced as an attorney in New York, building a circle which included everyone from mafia bosses to Aristotle Onassis, Rupert Murdoch, Andy Warhol, Barbara Walters, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
After Cohn met the young Donald Trump and represented him in his battle against the justice department, the two men became fast friends, with Cohn introducing Trump to several powerful figures who would later pave his way to the presidency. He also instilled in him many of the life lessons that would go on to define Trump’s political career: namely, the need to attack relentlessly, never accept defeat, admit nothing, deny everything, and make your own reality. However, as Trump became more powerful, Cohn’s influence slowly diminished following a prolonged illness. Despite being vocally homophobic, Cohn had sexual relationships with men and, in 1986, died from AIDS-related complications at just 59.
Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump
A Critics Choice Award winner and Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominee for her supporting role in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the Bulgarian actor takes the part of the Czech Republic-born Ivana Zelníčková, Donald Trump’s first wife. A keen skier, Zelníčková attended Prague’s Charles University and earned a master’s degree in physical education before marrying Austrian ski instructor Alfred Winklmayr. Following their divorce, she moved to Canada to work as a ski instructor and model, eventually relocating to New York. It was there, in 1976, that she first met Donald Trump.
The pair married in 1977 and became partners in both life and business, with Ivana working as a senior executive in the Trump organization and leading the interior design of Trump Tower. They were frequently spotted on the Manhattan social circuit in the ’80s, going on to have three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. However, their marriage eventually disintegrated and they divorced in 1990. (The Apprentice includes a controversial marital rape scene between Trump and Ivana, inspired by an incident recorded in Ivana’s 1990 divorce deposition that was later retracted. “As a woman I felt violated,” she subsequently said of the incident. “I referred to this as a rape, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.” Trump always denied the allegation.)
After their divorce, she received a $14 million settlement, developed clothing lines that were sold on TV, published an autobiography, and married businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli and, later, actor Rossano Rubicondi. In 2022, she died at the age of 73 as a result of injuries sustained after falling down the stairs of her Manhattan home.
Martin Donovan as Fred Trump
The SAG Award-nominated Californian actor, who has appeared in Inherent Vice, Big Little Lies, and Tenet, transforms into Donald Trump’s father, Fred Trump. Born to German immigrants in the Bronx, the senior Trump headed the family real estate business started by his own parents, and found success in building and managing middle and low-income housing in New York. He faced criticism too, including in 1973, when the justice department accused Trump Management of racial bias. (He denied the allegations and the case ended in a settlement.)
He and his wife, Mary Anne MacLeod, had five children: Maryanne, Fred Jr., Elizabeth, Donald, and Robert. Initially, Fred wanted his oldest son, Fred Jr., to succeed him as head of the family business, but following Fred Jr.’s decision to become a pilot, Fred Sr. set his sights on Donald instead, who became its president in 1971. (Fred Jr. died in 1981 at 42 from complications resulting from his alcoholism, a tragedy depicted in The Apprentice.) Fred himself died of pneumonia in 1999, at the age of 93.
