Anyone who has seen even the smallest snippet from the clips and trailers for Deadpool 2 already knows that the jovial everyman Peter was the standout star of the footage, even eclipsing the Merc With The Mouth.
Sadly, we know little to nothing about Peter, other than he has a killer mustache, no superpowers and is a fully-fledged member of the X-Force alongside Deadpool, Domino, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus, Bedlam and Shatterstar, having obliviously responded to an advertisement he really shouldn’t have.
He’s also played by Rob Delaney, a comedian and the star of “Catastrophe.” I recently had the chance to talk to Delaney about “Deadpool 2” and Peter, and he revealed all that he could about them both.
Did you audition for the role of Peter?
No, Ryan Reynolds himself just called me and said, ‘Do you want to be in ‘Deadpool 2’?’ And I of course said, ‘Yes.’ We’d never met in person, but we had tried to. I enjoy everything that he does. And he’d seen ‘Catastrophe.’ He just said, ‘Do you want to come out. We’ve got this part. We think you might be good for it.’ That’s how it happened.
Did you help to develop Peter then?
It is funny because a lot of the Peter stuff is ad-libbed. They knew what they wanted for Peter. But they didn’t know exactly what it would look like. I showed up on set with a big beard and big messy hair. We sculpted it down to the mustache. Picked out an outfit. The essence of it was settled upon. But we sort of messed around and made him as fun as we could. They asked me to shave my beard. So I shaved it down to the mustache, and a couple of people in hair and make-up were like, ‘Yeah, probably shave the mustache, too.’ I was like, ‘Of course, I am happy to shave it off. But why don’t we show it to Ryan and David and Paul and Rhett.’ As soon as I showed it to them they were like, ‘Yes, keep the mustache!’ So I’m glad I didn’t shave that off right away.
Did a lot of the character develop on set?
Here’s how it worked. Basically, the script for “Deadpool 2” on its own, obviously you want to see it as a movie, but even as a read it was amazing. Of course for the first 3 or 4 takes I did to the letter the amazing stuff that they had written and it was great. Then they were like, ‘Now you can mess around.’ So I was very gratified to find that they ended up using some of the stuff that I just ended up farting out sideways on take 6. I viewed that as a kindness that they did to me by including it. That was very exciting for me.
How did you approach the stunts?
When I got to the set on the first day and they had me doing stunt training, the very first thing I said was, ‘I am not a hero. I am not a tough guy. I think it is fantastic that there are stunt men. I am not a do your own stunts kind of person. I have children. I am not allowed to get hurt. I am the biggest wet blanket/sissy.’ Which they all appreciated very much. I think that approach caught on. I know Terry Crews and Ryan stopped doing any stunts at that. I am kidding about that. They had a wonderful stunt man for me who did everything dangerous. As soon as I had to do anything dangerous I immediately peed.
What is Peter’s dynamic with Deadpool?
I think Peter is thrilled to have the opportunity. But when sh** hits the fan he starts to get nervous. As anyone would. I think Deadpool likes Peter. Because Deadpool doesn’t really waste his time on people that he doesn’t want to be around. I mean, he thinks it would be a laugh to have a normal guy who had the balls to go, ‘Yeah, I want to do this.’ Deadpool doesn’t owe anyone any favors. So I think he legitimately likes Peter.
Do you like superhero films?
I don’t like a superhero film just because it is a superhero film. I like good superhero films. I loved “Black Panther.” The first “Deadpool” was amazing. I won’t see a superhero film just because it has people with capes in it that can lift heavier things that I can.
“Deadpool 2” is released on May 11.
