Outside Perspective Project
Objective to see how people with different levels of familiarity with Sebastian Stan interpret the same public interactions from the Cannes Film Festival.
*This isn't a scientific study, and I'm not claiming it represents everyone. It's just a small perception experiment I thought would be interesting.*
Method
10 participants.
Participants ranged from fans to people who had never heard of either person.
Every participant viewed the same three photos and the same three videos in the exact same chronological order.
Material was viewed BEFORE given questionnaire.
No additional context was provided before viewing.
Every participant answered the exact same questions.
Groups
Which category do you consider yourself:
Group 1: Active fans - follows news or social media.
Group 2: Casual fans - has seen several movies but doesn't follow personal life.
Group 3: Know who he is but don't follow him - might know the name or might recognize a character.
Group 4: No idea who either person is.
Questionnaire
1. If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
2. What are your first impressions of these two?
3. How would you describe their body language?
4. Do they seem comfortable together?
5. What vibe do you get from these interactions?
6. Does anything stand out to you?
7. If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
Materials
Results
Participant 1 - 80s
Group 4 - No clue who they are
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“I assume they are together. This seems fake though. Staged. Are there staged relationships in Hollywood? Are they actors? They should find other careers.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“Staged. Are they supposed to be in love because they clearly aren’t.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“Forced. Are they supposed to be a couple? He at times when the cameras are on he smiles. She seems attention seeking. Why is she holding her bump like that? She seems detached.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“Not at all. They seem stiff and performative. They look like they can’t stand each other. Why the hell is he dragging her like that? That’s not safe or how you treat a loved one”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“They don’t like each other. Why are they together if they hate each other that much?”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“They both seem detached from the whole thing. There’s not an ounce of love between the two. They can’t even take a picture together without looking sick of each other.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Staged. Very performative”
P2 - 30s
Group 2 - kinda know him
“I know who he is but without her standing next to him I would not know her.”
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Shes a baby momma”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“Normal looking rich people.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“Tense alittle. like they dont want to be there. dont want to touch each other. like he leans in more and she doesnt care to be in the same bubble as him.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“Nope. he lightly touches her or leans in like he would for a fan. and shes focused on the perfect look for a photo.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“They dont give a fuck”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“His lean. is she a fan? shes having his baby show a little love. maybe they fought before the 2nd video.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“For show”
P3 - 20s
Group 3 - Semi recognize his name
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Planned or what’s the word… faked. Performative.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“Why does he look like an egg? Is he trying to LARP as Bruce Willis? I think it’s fake as fuck.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“Non existent. Fake.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
Laughs “ Hell no! Do people think they’re really together?”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“Fake. Not real.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“The video of them taking a picture and jumping away looked like two high schoolers being awkward at a party.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Fake.”
P4 - 30s
Group 2: Casual fan but don’t follow them
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Think it started as PR and then whoopsie there’s a baby and so let’s stay together for baby even though that shit never works out.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“They greatly dislike each other and have antagonistic attitudes towards each other.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“Extremely standoffish. They lean away from each other and put as much space between each other as they can without raising too many questions. His feet will be far away and he’ll lean in as much as he can to take pics while still maintaining separation.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“Absolutely not. She avoids his kiss. He avoids her hold.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“Extremely uncomfortable and like they’re two toddlers who were fighting but were shoved in the ‘friendship’ tshirt together to try and make them get along.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“Her faces and how far away he keeps his feet to add space.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Forced. Performative. Antagonistic.”
P5 - 50s
Group 2 - watched movies but know nothing about him
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Noncommittal.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“Seem very casual and separate.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“Forced. They pull apart, keep separate.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“No.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“That they are not together by choice.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“They rarely seem to connect or even focus on each other. Like two separate entities.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Awkward and forced.”
P6 - 40s
No idea who either person is.
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Paper relationship. Relationship only exist on paper. Or like co workers posing”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“The first 2 pictures look like he’s posing with a fan. As the videos progress they were pretending to be a couple.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“They don’t seem to give shit about each other unless cameras are on them. He tosses his jacket back and poses. She grabs her belly, they take the picture and once the cameras off them they practically run in opposite directions.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“Not really. They seem like they don’t give a shit”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“The same as someone posing with a guest like at comic con. You paid them money, pose, picture done.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“He’s dragging her behind him. Why is he sitting across from her in the car?”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Fake”
P7 - 70s
Group 4: No clue who they are
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“I don’t think they have one.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“Tolerating each other in public. Do the bare minimum to get by seems to me.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“They are not close like that. After seeing that, they don’t have any good body language together. They can’t be a real couple.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“No. I think she’s in it for the fame.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“That they are doing this for publicity.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“Yeah since she’s pregnant she seems more comfortable with more attention. She’s riding the high off the attention and he looks over it. She only puts her hand on her stomach when cameras are looking. That’s her power play and if he does anything she doesnt like she could go public and say he’s mean.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Tolerate for publicity. Stand offish”
P8 - 60s
Group: 4 - no clue who they are
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“Are they married? They don’t look happy to be together.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“They don’t look like a happy couple. Seemed forced.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“They looked like they couldn’t break away fast enough”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“No.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“Not real or genuine”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“Her dress was revealing. They don’t seem to like each other.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Fake.”
P9 - 60s
Group: 4 - no clue who they are
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“They are acting in a relationship. Very cold to each other. All for show it looked like.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“They looked like something was going on between the two. Not in a good way.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“They are together for some reason but not a real reason. The body language is very cold.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“No.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“They didn’t seem genuine. Like it was all for show.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“Him dragging her through the crowd.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“Staged.”
P10 - 30s
Group 4: No clue who they are
Question 1: If you had to guess, what kind of relationship do you think they have?
“I would guess at an ex-friendship. Maybe past partners.”
Question 2: What are your first impressions of these two?
“first impression is that they dont seem to be very comfortable together.”
Question 3: How would you describe their body language?
“I would describe their body language as awkward and possibly uncomfortable.”
Question 4: Do they seem comfortable together?
“No.”
Question 5: What vibe do you get from these interactions?
“In the second video it almost seems like they couldn't get away from each other fast enough.”
Question 6: Does anything stand out to you?
“Usually when a couple is excited/happy about a pregnancy they can't keep their hand off each other. I do not get that vibe from either of them.”
Question 7: If you had to describe the overall vibe in one or two words, what would they be?
“super uncomfortable.”
Despite having different levels of familiarity with Sebastian and Annabelle, every participant expressed essentially the same overall impression. The language varied, but the themes were consistent.
This project wasn't meant to determine whether their relationship is real or fake. It was simply an exercise in perception. I wanted to see what people observed when they were shown the exact same public material without any fandom context. The consistency of the responses was the part I found most interesting.
