The premiere of Donald Trump's film was a “huge challenge.”

The star of a controversial new film about Donald Trump said the former president “should be grateful” for providing a “complex, three-dimensional look” at his life.

American actor Sebastian Stan plays Trump in The Apprentice, which focuses on Trump's younger years as a New York real estate tycoon.

The former president threatened to take legal action against the producers, calling the film “fake and classless” and expressing hope that it would “bomb” the box office.

The film had difficulty finding a US distributor, and the director described the process of making and releasing it as “the hardest thing I've ever done.”

The Apprentice is set in the 1970s and 1980s, when Trump was starting to make a name for himself as a businessman in New York.

It focuses on his relationship with lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong from “Successions”), who instilled in Trump certain values, such as never admitting defeat.

In an interview with the BBC's Lizo Mzimba, Ali Abbasi said that making and releasing the film was “definitely the hardest thing I have ever done” and admitted that after the film's release in May, there were difficulties in finding a distributor.

“When we were at (the Cannes Film Festival) and we got a standing ovation and everyone was so happy and flattered, I thought there would be a bidding war, do I want to go with Warner or Netflix, who do I want to go with?”

However, contrary to the director's expectations, Abbasi said he found it “extremely difficult for us to find a distributor” – likely in part due to Trump's threat of a lawsuit.

The Apprentice was finally released in the US last week, but that didn't happen had problems selling tickets there so far.

The film had its UK premiere at the London Film Festival on Tuesday evening before its UK release on Friday.

More from the London Film Festival:

Abassi confirmed that he wanted the film to be released before the November 5 US elections, where Trump will face Kamala Harris, so that it could be part of the conversation.

“The choice is either to release this information potentially during Trump's presidency or after the election, regardless of how it goes, or to do it now,” Abbasi said.

“I think intellectually and as an artist it's much more exciting (releasing it now).

“I don't think anyone has ever made a movie about someone running for office right now and there's an interaction like that. It's really special, honestly, why would I miss this opportunity?”

He added: “Does this mean we want to influence or change the outcome of the US election? I mean, I wish I had those powers!”

Strong, however, suggested the film could potentially influence some voters.

“I think in some ways it could move the needle on what people think or perceive about it, but the movie is not a political act, it's a story,” he said.

The film received mixed reviews and there was debate about whether it could become part of the Oscar race.

The election result could be crucial to the film's nomination, noted Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson.

“If Trump wins the election, I don't think (award voters) will want anything to do with this movie.” Lawson said on the Little Gold Men podcast.

“It would take a Harris victory for people to think, 'OK, we've defeated evil again, now we can go back and reconsider his younger life in a safer place.'

If the film does qualify for the Oscar race, Strong could be in direct competition with his former Succession co-star Kieran Culkin in the supporting actor category.

Marvel star Stan avoids portraying Trump in the film as a caricatured villain or in the over-the-top, comedic way Trump is often portrayed by impressionists.

Instead, “The Apprentice” serves as a more serious character study, showing how Trump's personality was shaped by Cohn.

The fact that Trump is played without the usual voice, gestures and characteristics that actors often use makes his gradual evolution over the course of two hours much more effective.

“Some may want the Apprentice to move on.” said Katie Walsh of the LA Times. in her review. “It humanizes Trump.

“But it also paints a starkly obvious picture of how a person can turn into a monster, given the right personality, background, and guidance.”

By the end of the film, Cohn's influence on Trump is clearly visible. Younger viewers who have only come to know Trump in the last decade may find the film instructive.

Stan reflected, “They (Trump and Cohn) are very complex individuals and that's just the way it is in life, no one is morally completely on the right side or perfect in any way, everyone has flaws and there are certain redeeming qualities as well for them.”

Strong told BBC News: “The film is about how Trump came to be, in some ways how he became who he is today, his moral, philosophical and political framework, and a lot of that goes back to Roy Cohn, so in that sense it's an origin story.

“We live in an extremely polarized world where we see everything in terms of heroes and villains, but the world really isn't like that.

“And none of us wanted to simply vilify or demonize these people. Your job as an actor is to leave judgment at the door.”

Stan concluded: “I think (Trump) should be grateful, honestly. I think we gave him a very complex, three-dimensional look at his life, and I don't remember anyone else doing that. “

This does not mean, however, that Trump's image is sympathetic. Quite the opposite. Stan's Trump treats people increasingly badly, and in one particularly controversial scene he is seen raping his then-wife Ivana.

This allegation has a complicated background – Ivana Trump actually accused Trump of rape in court testimony in 1990 when they were divorcing, but later distanced herself from the complaint.

In 2015, Ivana described one sexual encounter during which she found the “love and tenderness” that Trump usually showed was missing, leaving her feeling “violated.” She continued: “I called it 'rape,' but I don't want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”

She later dedicated her 2017 memoir to Trump, describing him as “the father of my children and my dear friend.” She died in 2022.

Trump denies sexual assault – his lawyer says rape 'never happened' and Trump's team threatened to sue the producers.

Earlier this week, Trump said in a statement: “My ex-wife Ivana was a kind and wonderful person and I had a great relationship with her until her death.”

He added: “It's sad that human scum, like the people involved in this hopefully failed (film), can say and do whatever they want to harm a political movement that is much bigger than any of us.”

Trump's threat of a lawsuit deterred some Cannes buyers, but Briarcliff Entertainment ultimately decided to distribute the film in the U.S. and Canada.

When asked about the sexual assault scene, Abbasi said: “My take is that it's important because it's a breakup, an extremely important character point, the relationship between Donald and Ivana, and what's really important is the tragedy, not the controversy.”

When asked about the search for Ivana Trump, Bakalova said: “It was good to see a woman ahead of her time, she wanted to be shoulder to shoulder with him in business. Yes, take care of the children too… but she was a businesswoman and I think she had influence.