Deadpool & Wolverine main villain Cassandra Nova was inspired from two iconic villains, Emma Corrin told British GQ.
The first is Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie. The other is Christoph Waltz's Col. Hans Landa in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film Inglorious Basterds.
“There's something extravagant in Gene Wilder's performance,” Corrin told the magazine.
“And it's a similar energy that Christoph Waltz has in Inglorious Basterds because he's wearing a uniform so he can sit there and drink a glass of milk and pretend he's a f***ing fairy godmother,” they added.
According to Corrin's Entertainment Weekly interview, director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds explained what they wanted to see in Cassandra.
Part unhinged chocolatier, part maniacal soldier
“‘We want this villain to not be a villain in the sense that you expect them to be. We want you to be so endeared by her, so charmed by her, and just when you think that maybe she's totally seen into your soul and you are going to be best friends for life, you're dead,'” they said.
It was Levy and Reynolds who pitched Waltz's Landa character; while Corrin suggested Wilder.
In mixing those two characters, along with their own special flair, the actor wanted to embody what Levy asked for: “We want to see the weather change.”
They explained it as Cassandra being able to “play the sun, then the clouds come, and you have no idea when it happened or what just happened.”
Together with their GQ profile, the actor also answered questions for the publication's Actually Me segment on the magazine's YouTube channel.
When asked about what prompted them to take on the role of Cassandra, they replied, “I think probably because it is a major contrast to my normal roles, and I always wanted to play a villain. And then Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.”
“Ryan improvs the entire time. And it was kind of like a masterclass in that kind of comedy and that kind of genre of film, which I hadn't really done before. Yeah, what's not to love,” they added.
Emma Corrin's villain era
The actor was nominated for an Emmy in 2021 for playing the younger Princess Diana in Netflix's hit series on the British royal family The Crown. They recently starred in Hulu's miniseries A Murder at the End of the World.
Later on in the video, Corrin said that they asked Marvel to give them a personal trainer before starting production on Deadpool 3 because they were ready to go through “a huge transformation.” However, their request was denied.
“They said I don't have to undergo any physical training,” the actor said.
“They were like, ‘That's absolutely not required of you. Please stand down,” they added.
Corrin acknowledged the pressure of starring in a superhero film — especially a Marvel superhero film — due to what's now being called “superhero fatigue.”
“There's a lot of pressure on it, but I think that it's the right one at the right time,” they explained.
“Because it's Deadpool, and Deadpool has always broken the mold, right?” That's why Ryan is a literal genius,” Corrin continued.
That's exactly the hope for Deadpool & Wolverine, to be Marvel's Messiah. It looks like the movie is on track to do just that since its box office tracking has it opening at the $200 million range. If it does hit that mark, it would break the record of the highest-grossing R-rated film in history.
Deadpool & Wolverine will hit cinemas July 26.
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