One minute his face is quite literally peeling off — occurring in spectacular, sickly fashion thanks to some gross-out prosthetics — the next, he has the handsome visage of Sebastian Stan. Not a bad trade, but no amount of science can fix what’s within. Barely able to hold a conversation, Edward is still the same loser he always was.
When Ingrid writes a play partially based on her relationship with Edward, Oswald (Adam Pearson) enters the picture as the star — and Edward’s daily tormentor. He, too, has neurofibromatosis, but he oozes confidence and none of the self-pity that Edwards holds onto. Schimberg’s deft screenplay risks tying itself in knots over the thorny questions of representation (is casting an actor with physical disfigurements exploitative? Is it offensive to portray them as victims?), but A Different Man doesn’t seek to provide answers. Primarily, it’s about the sheer breadth of humanity. A person with neurofibromatosis can be as charismatic as Oswald, or as uninteresting as Edward.
Stan doesn’t let the make-up do all the heavy lifting in Edward’s transformation, instead cleverly shifting his voice and posture to illustrate his character’s growing egotism. But it’s Pearson (previously known for his appearance in Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin) who delivers a riveting, star-making turn. Schimberg wrote A Different Man specifically for the actor, after working with him on 2019 film Chained For Life, hoping to create a character as vibrant as he is. Pearson excels, playing a man you truly believe would do yoga in the park, kill at karaoke and woo every woman in town. Perhaps the great tragedy to come out of this is that we’re only now learning that his potential was left unfulfilled for so long.