What Sebastian Stan's Childhood Was Like Growing Up In Romania

Sebastian Stan is slowly taking over Hollywood one project at a time. The dashing actor catapulted to fame when he landed the role of Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since then, he's gone on to star alongside some of the biggest names in the industry in projects like "Fresh" and "Pam and Tommy." Just like many actors in the business, it took a lot of hard work to get to where Stan is today. However, his journey to stardom is particularly interesting as he was born (and partially raised) in Romania.

According to Romania Insider, the "Avengers: Infinity War" actor was born in Constanta, Romania. Stan grew up in Constanta for eight years before he and his mother decided to make the move to Vienna. While he was living in Vienna, Stan scored his first acting gig in "71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance." L'Officiel reports that the actor lived in Vienna from ages eight to 12. When Stan was 12 years old, his mother decided to take a leap of faith and move to the United States.

The star's career goes to show that anything is possible, regardless of where you come from. And, at the end of the day, Stan will never forget his home in Romania. Here's everything we know about the actor's life growing up in the southeastern European country.

Sebastian Stan has kept his time in Romania pretty private. The "Fresh" actor has only given fans tidbits of his Romanian life. In an interview with Alexa Chung, she asked the 40-year-old what it was like growing up in the country. He responded, "You know, you couldn't find bananas anywhere, it was Communism."

Stan's life in Romania was short-lived since he left for Vienna with his mother when he was eight years old. The actor then made another big move at 12 years old to the United States. And because he partially grew up in Romania, Stan, just like any new kid in town, didn't want to stand out. He told the Los Angeles Times how, as a kid, all you want to do is "fit in" — for a while, the actor did what he could to blend in.

The "Avengers: Endgame" star even shared that, at certain points in his life, he felt "embarrassed" by his heritage, per Indie Wire. Stan said, "For a few years, until I was about 16 or 17, I felt a lot of shame, a lot of fear, to say I was Romanian." It's unclear what made Stan feel this way, but it had to be intimidating to move to an entirely new country with people speaking a different language. However, as Stan has grown older, he's increasingly become prouder and prouder of his Romanian heritage. And lucky for him, he never lost his native language.

Growing up in a different country from the one you were born in can be difficult. In some cases, if you live in another country for a long period you can lose your native language. Sebastian Stan lucked out as he never lost his ability to speak Romanian. After Alexa Chung asked the "Pam and Tommy" actor if he could speak German or Romanian, Stan revealed he only knows the Romanian language. With the help of his mom, Stan continues to be fluent in Romanian.

In fact, the actor has done several interviews speaking in his native tongue. In an interview with EuropaFM, the host commented on how well his Romanian speaking skills are despite leaving the country at such a young age. Stan responded, "I might struggle a bit, but I'll try." He revealed to the interviewer the difficulties of maintaining his native language. The "Gossip Girl" actor shared, "Leaving when I was 8, I didn't have a lot of people with whom I could speak to. I only had my mother." Stan discussed how, after moving to the U.S., he tried his best to pick up English as quickly as he could. He did this in hopes that kids wouldn't notice any kind of accent. While he thinks he did well, the "Covenant" star shared that his mother still notices a slight Romanian accent. Stan joked that after his promo trip to Europe and speaking more Romanian, his mother is sure to call out his accent even more.