Donald Trump's biopic 'The Apprentice' suggests former president underwent hair transplant

Ali Abbasi’s 'The Apprentice' shows Donald Trump undergoing hair transplant procedure in the movie’s last scenes
PUBLISHED OCT 15, 2024
‘The Apprentice’ suggests Donald Trump underwent a hair transplant to remove a bald spot (Getty Images)
‘The Apprentice’ suggests Donald Trump underwent a hair transplant to remove a bald spot (Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Weeks before a thrilling United States election, director Ali Abbasi released the cinematic bomb 'The Apprentice' into theaters, which is a biopic that portrays a young Donald Trump.

In the film, there is a scene where Donald Trump, played by Sebastian Stan, gets a hair transplant to remove a bald area as well as liposuction to appear thinner.

According to Trump's late wife Ivana's divorce testimony, the former president's agony from a 1989 scalp reduction treatment caused him to go into "a fit of rage." 

'Apprentice' depicts Donald Trump undergoing hair transplant and liposuction

Also known as alopecia reduction, the surgery is intended to correct balding, per Vanity Fair.

As per the outlet, Ivana, who died in 2022, claimed that Dr Steven Hoefflin, who carried out the purported procedure, also did liposuction on Donald's waist and chin. In the final minutes of 'Apprentice', the former commander-in-chief appears to be undergoing both procedures.

Political journalist Gabriel Sherman claimed, "It’s a visual metaphor of the Frankenstein monster: the final piece of the monster being made."

"But also, it’s the first time in the entire movie that Sebastian looks and acts and speaks like a present-day Donald Trump. The liposuction and hair transplant are the physical manifestation of the Trump we know now," he added, per USA Today.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 30: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci (L) speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during the daily coronavirus briefing at the Rose Garden of the White House on March 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. The United States has updated its guidelines to U.S. citizens to maintain current social distancing practices through the end of April after the number of reported coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths doubled to over 2,000 nationwide within two days. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In the final minutes of 'Apprentice', Donald Trump appears to be undergoing hair transplant to remove a bald spot (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Donald Trump's hair transplant scenes in 'Apprentice' filmed using 'top of fake head'

Ali Abbasi's 'The Apprentice' chronicles Donald Trump's rise from a local real estate entrepreneur in the 1970s to a national superstar in the 1980s. As time goes on, Trump starts losing his hair and puts on weight to the extent that he takes amphetamines to help him shed the weight. However, it proves ineffective.

Trump undergoes plastic surgery in the movie as a result of his weight gain and hair loss. According to prosthetics lead Sean Sansom, "the top of a fake head with a scalp" was used for the hair transplant scene.

Sansom added that hair department head Michelle Cote "had a toupee, and an area was cut away where the scalp would be removed."

"The hair was punched in one hair at a time, and the piece was rigged with a bloodline, and the scalpel had a bloodline on it too — and it was shot in one day."

Sebastian Stan appears as young Donald Trump in 2024 film 'The Apprentice' (YouTube/@briarcliffentertainment)
Sebastian Stan appears as young Donald Trump in 2024 film 'The Apprentice' (YouTube/@briarcliffentertainment)

For the role, Stan put on 15 pounds to imitate Trump's physique alteration; a padded garment with a prosthetic belly was also built by the costume crew. The team created a look they called "Pills Donny" by using the prosthetic belly, per Variety.

Cote even gave Stan a medium-sideburned blonde wig for that early Trump stage. However, his skin tone, hair, and eyebrows all changed throughout time, giving him an evolving appearance.

"When he’s younger, his hair was golden because he was outside more and had some natural highlights. As he got older, he lost his highlights and [his hair] became darker," Cote explained.

Stan gained a lot of weight for the film but he was also ready to perform and embody the former president.

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