Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, 27, who plays Ivana in Donald Trump drama The Apprentice learned Danish in the hope of starring in indie Scandi films and got her big break in Borat

The upcoming film about Donald Trump, aptly named The Apprentice, premiered at Cannes last night.

Described as 'controversial' by many outlets, Trump has said he plans to sue the makers of the docudrama - which includes a scene of him raping his late ex-wife Ivana, which he denies ever happened.

However, ahead of its Cannes premiere, the movie was one of the festival's most anticipated. 

Following its screening, it received an eight-minute standing ovation, thanks no doubt in part to the performance of Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, who plays Ivana. 

Despite not (yet) being a household name, Maria, 27, has already enjoyed significant success in her career.

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova (pictured) poses for snappers while attending The Apprentice's premiere at Cannes Film Festival

Maria Baklava is photographed on the set of The Apprentice in Toronto. She plays Donald Trump's late ex wife Ivana in the film

In 2020, the actress was nominated for a number of prestigious awards including an Oscar, BAFTA, SAG Award and Golden Globe for her supporting role in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

She went onto to win a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film. 

Born and raised in Burgas, Bulgaria in 1996, Maria showed an interest in the creative arts at a young age, taking singing and flute lessons when she was around six-years-old.

It was not until she was 12 that she enrolled in acting classes.

Describing why she started acting, Maria told the New York Times in 2020: 'At some point, I wanted to explore more. I wanted to escape from reality. Because in acting, you can become anybody. You can do everything. You can live on Mars.' 

It was reportedly after watching the 2012 Danish psychological drama The Hunt, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen, that she decided to seriously pursue acting.

This didn't affect her academic studies though: the former straight A student told the New York Times that as a child, she was 'super disciplined', and read 'too many books', revealing that she was 'obsessed' with Dostoyevsky when she was around 15-years-old.

She also reportedly enjoyed the escapism that reading works of fiction by authors including Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges and Mikhail Bulgakov afforded her.

According to the actress (pictured) she was an extremely disciplined child who was a straight A student obsessed with literature

Maria (pictured, left) scored a major breakthrough with her role in 2020 movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, picking up an Oscar nod (pictured with Sacha Baron Cohen, right)

Describing those who have inspired her, Maria has listed actresses Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman, as well as filmmakers including Thomas Vinterberg, Pedro Almodóvar, and British director Andrea Arnold. 

Maria went onto move to Sofia, where she majored in drama at the National School of Music and Stage Arts in Burgas (where she minored in flute). 

While a student there, she performed in a number of theatre productions, including Les Liaisons dangereuses, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Kennedy's Children and The Trial.

It was in 2017 that she had her first on screen role, playing a supporting character in a comedy-drama film called XIIa. 

That year, she also scooped her first leading role, playing Yana in the film Transgression - a part she reportedly secured after she was signed up for a blind audition by a classmate.

Maria won an award for her performance, scooping the Best Actress gong at Toronto's Alternative Film Festival in 2018.

The film, which was screened at a number of film festivals around Europe, the States, and Canada, was eventually picked up by HBO Max, which released it in 2021.

She went onto win a small part in the The Father (2019), which was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards in 2020.

Before graduating, Maria persuaded her parents to take her to Denmark, a country she wanted to visit because of her love of Danish cinema.

Maria (pictured at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards in Santa Monica, California) is the first Bulgarian actor to be nominated for an Oscar

Maria (pictured at the 2020 SAG Awards) was so keen to work as a runner on a Lars von Trier film that she reportedly learnt Dutch for the job

Maria attends 2022 Comic Con International in San Diego (pictured L-R: Will Poulter, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff, James Gunn, and Maria Bakalova)

While there, according to Indiewire, she went to the offices of Lars von Trier's production company Zentropa, where she asked if she could be a runner on his next film.

She told Indiewire: 'I said, "That’s it, I’m moving to Denmark, and I’m going to do my best work there".'

According to some reports, to secure the position of runner, she had to agree to learn Danish, which she did.

Following her graduation in 2019, Maria made the move from her home country of Bulgaria to Los Angeles. 

The next year, she won a starring role in comedy-drama movie Last Call, playing a suicidal woman called Alexandra and earning critical plaudits for her work.

It was in that year, 2020, that Maria would have her first major breakthrough, being cast as Tutar Sagdiyev in prank comedy Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Her role as the daughter of fictional Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev (performed by Sacha Baron Cohen) won her critical acclaim.

A review of the film by IGN said: 'The film's fantastic find, Maria Bakalova, every bit Sacha Baron Cohen's on-screen equal, is who, and what, most people will be talking about.'

The actress is snapped attending Louis Vuitton's 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition in July 2022 in California

The star co-founded her own production company, Five Oceans, in a bid to bring more Eastern European stories to international audiences (pictured at the San Diego Comic-Con 2022)

Despite not (yet) being a household name, Maria (pictured attending the premiere of Bodies Bodies Bodies during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festival in Texas) has achieved a remarkable amount of success in her career so far

Speaking to the New York Times during her 2020 interview with the outlet, the actress spoke of her gratitude at landing the part, noting that Bulgarian actors are not often offered these types of roles.

She added that the usual options for performers from her country include small bit parts 'like a prostitute or a Mafia guy', with just two or three lines.

Maria thanked Sacha for giving the platform to an Eastern European actor, and for giving her the opportunity to play a nuanced and strong character.

Described as 'the most impactful piece of political entertainment', the film earned Maria her first Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe award, a SAG award, a Critics Choice award, and a BAFTA.

She made history by becoming the first Bulgarian actor to be nominated for these prestigious awards.

While she missed out on winning the gongs (instead picking up a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress), the nominations were an acknowledgement of her talent, and she performed in numerous movies over the next few years.

Maria (pictured at the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' film premiere, Los Angeles in April 2023) has previously spoken out about the lack of film roles for Eastern Europeans

The actress (pictured appearing in the horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies) has expressed her gratitude to Sasha Baron Cohen for casting her in the Borat sequel and giving her a nuanced role

According to Maria (pictured with Anna Wintour attending the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2021/2022 show in Paris) most Eastern European roles are limited to 'mafia guys and prostitutes'

Among them, she played an HIV-positive woman in denial about her condition in 2021 drama Women Do Cry. The film, which received a positive critical reception picked up a Queer Palm nomination at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

The following year, she starred alongside Pete Davidson in the 2022 horror movie Bodies Bodies Bodies, and was part of the ensemble cast in Judd Apatow's The Bubble, where she acted with Karen Gillan, David Duchovny, Leslie Mann and Pedro Pascal.

Also in 2022, she did the voice of Cosmo the Spacedog in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and starred in romcom The Honeymoon. In 2023, she was featured in coming of age drama Fairyland.

As well as her role in highly anticipated film The Apprentice, Maria is also set to star in true crime film Branded, about the origins of the Aryan Brotherhood. She will co-produce as well as play the lead.

Further upcoming productions include  action thriller film Dirty Angels, sci-fi comedy drama O Horizon, and Apple TV+ action adventure film Mayday.

Maria, who was included in Variety's 2020 '10 Actors to Watch' list, not only acts, but also produces.

Through her production work, she advocates for Bulgarian and Eastern European representation in Hollywood.

As the co-founder of Five Oceans production company, she aims to show stories from these regions to international audiences.

Actor Maria Bakalova (pictured at a Miss Dior Perfume launch event in West Hollywood) has garnered award nominations among other plaudits, including spots on two of Forbes magazine's annual 30 under 30 lists

Maria (pictured attending The Hollywood Reporter 2021 Power 100 Women in Entertainment in Los Angeles) was also included in Variety's 2020 '10 Actors to Watch' list

As well as The Apprentice, Maria has a slate of upcoming productions, including a film she is co-producing and playing the lead in - true crime movie Branded (pictured at Cannes Film Festival with The Appentice director Ali Abbasi)

Thanks to her impressive achievements, in 2021, she was listed as on two of Forbes magazine's annual 30 Under 30 lists. The same year, she was lauded by Variety as being among the women who have made an impact on global entertainment.

However, right now, it is The Apprentice that is garnering headlines, and being described as another breakthrough role for the star.

The Apprentice shows Trump flourishing during the early years of his business career, in the 70s and 80s, and showcases his working relationship with controversial lawyer Roy Cohn, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1986. 

Sebastian Stan plays Trump as a younger man and Succession star Jeremy Strong, portrays Roy Cohn, who acted as a mentor to the younger Trump, but was disbarred in 1986 for defrauding a dying client.

The film also depicts the end of Trump's marriage to Ivana, and features a scene where she offers him a book about how to be a better lover. 

Trump is shown telling her that he no longer finds her attractive. He rapes her and then asks 'did I find your g spot?'

As well as her Oscar nod, Maria (pictured at the Women Do Cry photocall at Cannes Film Festival in 2021), she has also received nominations for a BAFTA, SAG Award, and Golden Globe for her role in the Borat sequel

Earlier this year, Maria (pictured at the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2021/2022 show in Paris ) was cast in Apple TV+ action adventure film Mayday

Maria, who started acting lessons when she was 12-years-old, later said she did so because she 'wanted to explore more. I wanted to escape from reality. Because in acting, you can become anybody. You can do everything' (pictured at the 2021 Academy Awards in Los Angeles)

In a divorce deposition in 1989 Ivana made an accusation of rape but rescinded this in 2015. She has since died. 

The Apprentice is directed by the Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi, who shot the critically acclaimed Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider, released in 2022.  

Variety initially reported that the film's title would be The Student, adding that a logline for the forthcoming film described it as 'an exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit.

'It's a mentor-protégé story that charts the origins of an American dynasty. Filled with larger than life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers.'

The screenplay for the film was written by Gabriel Sherman, who authored the 2014 book The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country.

In Ivana Trump's 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Mr Trump raped her. She claimed that Trump pushed her to the floor and pulled out several handfuls of her hair.

Mr Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she did not mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated. 

REAL LIFE: The real Ivana (pictured, left) was married to Donald Trump (pictured, right) from 1977 to 1990

The Apprentice also stars actor Sebastian Stan (pictured), who plays Trump as a younger man during the 70s and 80s

Trump confirmed via a spokesperson that he plans to take legal action over The Apprentice film (pictured L-R: Sebastian Stan and Maria Baklava on the set of the movie in Toronto)

 In a 1993 statement, she said, 'On one occasion during 1989, Mr Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently towards me than he had during our marriage. 

'As a woman I felt violated … I referred to this as a rape, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.' 

Speaking about Trump's intention to take legal action against the film, the former president's campaign chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said: 'This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalises lies that have been long debunked.

'As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.

'This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire.'