Sebastian Stan insists that Marvel is just "step one" in his career.
The 43-year-old actor rose to prominence with his role as Bucky Barnes/ Winter Soldier across seven movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but is keen to challenge himself outside the world of superhero films.
Sebastian told Don Saldino's Stronger Podcast: "I have to try to offer something different than before. And I've never favoured one role over another.
"The Marvel stuff, I'll always, till the end of time, (say it) really helped me grow as a person and helped me grow as an actor and it taught me relationships and Robert Downey (Jr.) and Scarlett (Johansson) and all these people I looked up to, and it was a business.
"It was a family and it gave me like a sense of belonging and it's always there for that, but it was only the step one for me."
The Apprentice star added that he is glad to have appeared in more critically acclaimed projects at this stage in his life as he has been given the chance to "grow" as a performer.
Sebastian explained: "This is where I'm finally now, and I'm lucky that it's happening in my 40s, and it didn't happen earlier for me because I look at these young guys like Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler – they're doing stuff that I don't think I could have done at their age. I just wasn't there. I wasn't caught up yet.
"I'm amazed at where they are at this point because I go, 'Wow, where's that guy going to be at 40?' Imagine. But for me, I needed to grow."
Stan also feels that the fact he was born in Romania instead of the United States meant he has to wait patiently to get work on his passion projects.
The Pam and Tommy actor said: "There was a significant part of my youth that I had to spend to get Americanised or to fit in and really find my way in a different way.
"But it's really now that I feel I'm finally getting to do the stuff I've always wanted to do."
Sebastian took on the role of Donald Trump in the 2024 movie The Apprentice – which focuses on the US President's rise in the business world before he entered politics – and revealed that he was warned not to accept the part because of the potential repercussions.
During an appearance on Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast, he explained: "This film has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
"Not just because of the complexities of playing Trump, but because of the reaction it provokes...
"I had people telling me not to do it. They said it might alienate people, that I didn’t look like him, that it was too dangerous. But for me, acting is about going toward the uncomfortable… about trying to understand humanity, even in the darkest places."
