Sebastian Stan: I Knew ‘I, Tonya’ Would Be a Special Movie

Sebastian Stan realized I, Tonya was a special movie during his time on set.

The 35-year-old actor stars as Jeff Gillooly, the ex-husband of controversial American figure skater Tonya Harding, in the new Craig Gillespie-directed film, and Sebastian feels the hard work and patience of the cast has paid off with the positive feedback they’ve already received.

Asked when he realized he was making a special movie, Sebastian shared: “It was definitely on set. I mean, the movie kind of came together there and we knew because the days were really long … 31 days to shoot it. And there were all these skating sequences and it was a lot to get done.”

But Sebastian said that because the cast – which also included Australian star Margot Robbie – were aware of how good the film could become, they never lost patience with the director.

Speaking to Collider, Sebastian explained: “We never got frustrated because everyone was operating from a point of view of what was the creatively most important decision that we could make on that day. For the film, for the story … it’s what shot really needed to be in the movie.”

Meanwhile, Margot recently admitted she didn’t know I, Tonya was based on a real-life story.

The blonde beauty plays Tonya – who pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution following an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 – in the film, but she was initially unaware of the dramatic storyline.

Margot confessed: “I didn’t realize it was a true story. I thought it was complete fiction, just a wacky story. And then I found out it was all true and I was even more fascinated.”