When A24 premiered the darkly humorous and twisted “A Different Man” at the Eccles Theater at the Sundance Film Festival, it quickly became one of the buzziest films at the festival. But many were confronted with the fact they didn’t have the language — or the quote-unquote right language — to discuss the disability at the plot’s heart. At one point, star Sebastian Stan had to politely correct one person who used an unaccepted term in their question.
In the film, Stan plays Edward, an aspiring actor born with (although it is never specified) neurofibromatosis, or NF1, a genetic condition in which non-cancerous tumors grow in the nervous system, causing bumps and discolorated patches on the skin. Stan dons prosthetic makeup for the first half of the movie before his character undergoes an experimental (and entirely fictional) facial reconstructive surgery.
“It’s a question that even I struggle with. I have a cleft palate, and in terms of talking about myself, I struggle with the language,” said writer/director Aaron Schimberg while on IndieWire’s Toolkit podcast. “When I was growing up, I considered myself deformed. Later, I changed that to disfigured, and that’s sort of where I’ve landed if I talk about myself; I say I’m disfigured. But I understand that this is not a perfect description, and I would feel uncomfortable using that term about anybody else.”
Schimberg does switch his language when discussing Stan’s character and actor Adam Pearson, who also starred in his first film, “Chained for Life,” and plays Stan’s nemesis in the second half of “A Different Man.” The charming character played by Pearson, who was born with NF1, forces Edward (now going by the name of Guy) to confront what he’s lost post-surgery, including his dream acting role, as the film descends into a deliously pitch-black comedy about identity. When discussing Pearson or the character Edward, Schimberg uses the term “facial difference,” which is also the language A24 suggested in its guide to press on how to navigate talking about “A Different Man.”
“Facial difference is certainly the most politically correct term. That’s the term that is the safest, but to me, it feels a little bit academic,” said Schimberg.
The more accepted “facial difference” doesn’t 100 percent sit right with Schimberg. Beyond the academic nature, aren’t all our faces different? Isn’t that visually the easiest way we tell ourselves apart from one another, regardless of a genetic condition or disability? Pearson, a disability activist, worries well-intentioned people who come to the film, and subsequent conversations, with an open heart feel discouraged from talking about it.
“I think language is a minefield now,” said Pearson. “We’ve gotten to a point where language is becoming quite counterproductive. That people feel like they can’t talk about it for fear of saying the wrong thing. And, you know, people don’t know what they don’t know. And so I want to get to a point where people can talk about this film in a way that’s meaningful. And, if they do get it wrong, get lovingly and patiently corrected so that they can learn to get it right.”
A24’s press guide adopted the APA (American Psychological Association) Style, which calls for language to “put people first, not their disabilityˮ and to “not label people by their disability.ˮ It also recommends the phrases “a person with a disfigurementˮ or “facial differenceˮ but notes some groups also use “visible differenceˮ or “altered appearance.ˮ Pearson agrees with this but quickly added that not having the correct language should never be a reason to avoid the conversation.
“I did get that live at Sundance — everyone’s up for a conversation, but there was a nervous energy to all the conversations,” said Pearson. “But again, that’s part of the film, how we push through that discomfort and nervous energy to get to an end resolution. And I would always encourage people to have the conversation. You’ve got to get it wrong to learn how to get it right, as with anything in life.”
That people would avoid talking about the film is Schimberg’s worst nightmare — and an experience he’s not unfamiliar with.
“When I made my last film, ‘Chained for Life,’ which also deals with this subject, I sort of felt that this difficulty in discussing this subject in some ways marginalized the film,” said Schimberg. After the film failed to find an audience despite a positive critical response, he told his wife he would never tackle the subject matter again because it was box office poison.
“But I’m stubborn, and after a while, I thought, I’ve got to find a way to make this commercial in some way to get it right, as with anything in life.”
“A Different Man” opens nationwide today, October 4.
You can also subscribe to the Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.
