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‘Deadpool 2’ cast opens up
Los Angeles — After surprising everybody with the success of the raunchy and rated-R Marvel hero film “Deadpool,” actor-producer-writer Ryan Reynolds ventures into a sequel, changes directors (from Tim Miller to David Leitch), hires Josh Brolin as Cable and “Atlanta” cast member Zazie Beetz as Domino, and crosses his fingers that people will welcome his second offering the same warm way they did the first one.
READ: 'Deadpool 2' serves fresh batch of the same bonkers from the Merc with a Mouth
We chatted with Ryan, Josh and Zazie one early Tuesday morning in a Beverly Hills hotel via Skype since they were in London.
Below are excerpts of our conversations with the cool gang:
Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”)
On how his Deadpool character changed him:
There is something interesting about a guy who really doesn’t put personal barriers in place for himself. And for "Deadpool," it’s often times destructive. But I like the fact that he takes chances and I am not talking physical chances, because he is obviously impervious to the pitfalls of wounds and death.
But I like that he takes emotional chances and that’s an interesting metaphor in the movie for real life, which is that most people would put their body on the line before they would put their own delicate emotional state on the line. So I got a little bit more courageous in terms of stepping out of my comfort zone.
I play one of the most outrageous characters in the comic book universe, but at the same time I, Ryan Reynolds, am actually incredibly shy in my real life. I have always dealt with anxiety issues and all kinds of stuff.
So Deadpool in some ways has helped me step out of that a little bit. I find myself saying no. I will go out to this dinner with a whole bunch of people I don’t know, even though that terrifies me.
I just left Korea and I sang on a stage in front a huge audience. For me that is like, I would pour molten hot lead through a tiny hole in my brain, than step on a stage and sing for a bunch of strangers. But it was one of those moments, like just do it, do it, because it scares you.
On how he deals with the backlash from people who tell him that he is using so many bad words and they can’t bring their kids:
Well, I can’t please Blake Lively all the time.
Look, there are 100,000 comic book movie characters that they can go see in the cinema that don’t have a single bad word or a single sort of undesirable trait even. What I love about Deadpool is that he is a total fuckup and he is a complete mess of a human being. He is a dysfunctional idiot who just wants to be a little bit better than he was yesterday. I love that.
I love that he is a character that is not defined by virtue. He is a character that is defined by his journey to virtue and his journey of being whole and his journey to being a better person. So I don’t really respond to that. This is the modern world isn’t it? You are never going to please everybody all the time.
So people who object to the swearing or the naughty nature of Deadpool, I can very politely refer them to eight billion other comic book movie franchises that don’t have any of that.
Josh Brolin (“Cable”)
On how fun and great to be Josh Brolin right now:
There’s nothing better. I am really grateful. I get a little afraid honestly.
I remember after “Avengers” came out, not this weekend, but the weekend before, it was the Sunday that it was doing very well over that weekend and breaking those records. I remember I told myself, it’s okay to enjoy this. Because I get a little afraid when there is one role that people see, especially on this global level, that even though it’s a CGI role, people are reacting to it as if it’s not, which is kind of amazing.
You get stuck in this thing of seeing actors become very successful and then they seem to get stuck in a thing. I have a deep, deep fear of that.
So beyond that, being able to have three movies, there’s actually four, but three that I really care about — “Avengers” and “Deadpool” and then “Sicario” — I feel extremely fortunate. I don’t think that will happen again, but I like the idea of coming out with three very different characters.
On working with “The Proposal” guy (as he fondly calls Ryan Reynolds)
I love him, I really do. We do this Instagram thing and we make it fun. I try to make it. I mean right when we started, I came up with a hashtag that said Ryan Reynolds is my bitch, which he didn’t like so much. I think he had a problem, he told me, with the word bitch and the way it sounded or something. I don’t think he has a problem being my bitch by the way, I think it’s just the word that bothers him.
So that rivalry is fun. I have a good time with that, because it just makes the process more fun. But he is really something. He is special. I have gotten to know him more.
On the set, he focused on what is funny. He is producing it and he is writing it along with the other guys and comedies aren’t necessarily fun to do, because you are trying to figure out about what fits in where. Then you do see it edited and you go, oh wow, that worked and thank God, I wasn’t sure. So I am getting to know him a lot better. I really, really enjoy his company. He is a humble guy and he is very smart. Unfortunately, he is Canadian. But I don’t have to deal with that.
On newcomer Zazie Beetz:
She is looking at this like no-man’s land right now. She did that show “Atlanta” and she is very good. She’s very young. She hasn’t been in this business for a long time and she is now seeing her picture on posters in “Deadpool” and all of that kind of stuff.
She is great in the film. So all I would say about her other than being great, and I adore her and love her, is that humility is the key. Not that she is not humble, but these are the things that scare me. Somebody who is unknown who goes (makes sound of soaring) and I hope she goes (makes sound of soaring) and doesn’t go (makes sound of plummeting).
Zazie Beetz (“Domino”)
Since her character’s power is luck, how much does luck play in her own life?
I have to say I always did feel like I was blessed with pretty good fortune in terms of things working out for me. I think some people are born with more or less luck. If I just think of the trajectory of my career in the last three years, it’s been a complete roller coaster of one thing happening after another.
They say luck means hard work meets opportunity. I think it is a mindset. A lot of it is acknowledging the good things that are happening in your life and having gratitude towards them. I’m sure a lot of people don’t always do that or in the midst of difficult times don’t acknowledge when something could have been worse.
So I would say in my life I’ve always been very lucky. And who knows? One day it’ll run out, I don’t know. But I do think a large part of it is mindset and I do think I’m incredibly lucky to have been a part of this project. It’s such an honor to be entrusted with originating a character.
For Ryan this has been something he’s worked on for so long. It’s something so important to him and for him to hand over such a big responsibility is incredible. I also worked a lot and I have been acting for a long time so I think it’s a combination. It’s a combination of the right place and the right time and also in trying.
On the origin of her name:
My name is from a French book called “Zazie dans le Metro” and there’s a movie of it by Louis Malle. My father saw the movie, he saw it when he was young, a version that was dubbed into German. And the French pronunciation is Za-ZEE but in the German version it’s Za-See. So that’s why my name is Zazie. My dad liked the name and hung onto it.
On Josh Brolin:
I didn’t ask for acting advice from Josh but we talked a lot about the transition into this lifestyle. He was really good. He took me under his wing a little bit and we just talked about the absurdity of all this and how to have fun with all of this.
Superficially, it’s wonderful to be able to travel. It’s wonderful to be able to work in this capacity and to have all this possibility and to be able to be creative. But it’s also an incredibly huge transition in how you can conduct your day to day.
I think a lot about once this movie comes out, what is going to change? I don’t know what would change. That’s on my mind a lot. And also placing your values in the choices you make.
You can really weigh yourself down with that. I am thinking about in what ways I am never going to be able to be just myself in a way that I’m not constantly thinking of someone scrutinizing my words or scrutinizing who I am. You lose a freedom and that’s something very important and dear to me.
So Josh was really great about talking about just not taking it all so seriously. They are choices you make and we’ve chosen to be here. So we need to embrace that.
On who keeps her grounded:
My boyfriend David. We’ve been together for four years now and we live together. We have a cat. David is an incredibly grounding person in my life. He’s also an actor and he writes as well. It’s a blessing to have somebody who’s also involved in the industry. He understands what I think in a way that maybe other people wouldn’t.
Of course, my mom and dad, too. I love them so much and they truly, in ways I can’t describe, just really have been there for me. What’s interesting about my dad is that he doesn’t really care about a lot of this stuff. He also wants to take a step back so that I can always go to him. He remains my dad. He’s incredibly proud. He’s reserved.
And my mom is just this wonderful woman. I love my mom and dad. They’ve been wonderful throughout this whole process.
But also my close friends keep me grounded. So it’s such a cliché thing to say but it really is like keeping your circle close and also engaging in those relationships, asking for help when you need it. It helps me manage anxiety and things like that.
I realize that it’s the people in your life who lift you out of it. So those elements have been very important to me and that is why I’ve been very protective of them. — LA, GMA News
