Sebastian Stan is glad his career has unfolded the way it has.

In a recent appearance on Don Saladinos Stronger Podcast, Stan, 43, opened up about why he feels he has to challenge himself and take on different roles.

I have to try to offer something different than before. And Ive never favored one role over another, he said. The Marvel stuff, Ill 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 and it was a business. It was a family and it gave me like a sense of belonging and its always there for that, but it was only the step one for me. However, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star noted that his transition to more critically acclaimed projects like I, Tonya, Pam Tommy, A Different Man and The Apprentice needed to happen later in his life.

This is where Im finally now, and Im lucky that its happening in my 40s, and it didnt happen earlier for me because I look at these young guys like Timothe Chalamet and Austin Butler theyre doing stuff that I dont think I could have done at their age. I just wasnt there. I wasnt caught up yet, Stan explained. Im amazed at where they are at this point because I go, Wow, wheres that guy going to be at 40? Imagine. But for me, I needed to grow.

He also credited this to not being born in the United States, as Stan is from Romania. There was there was a significant part of my youth that I had to spend to get Americanized or to fit in and really find my way in a different way, the actor said. But its really now that I feel Im finally getting to do the stuff Ive always wanted to do.

At the 2024 Oscars, Stan received his first Oscar nomination as well as a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Film Independent Spirit Awards nod for playing President Donald Trump in The Apprentice. However, he lost to Adrien Brody for The Brutalist. The actor also nabbed Emmy, Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe nominations for his role as rock star Tommy Lee in Pam Tommy. For his role in this years A Different Man, Stan won his first Golden Globe, among other awards and noms.