SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Deadpool 2. If you have not yet seen the film, please bookmark this page, and save to read until after your screening!
There are many crazy, surprising moments in David Leitch's Deadpool 2, but few are quite as amazing as the blink-and-you-miss-it cameo by Brad Pitt. While you don't know it at first, it turns out that he is the invisible mutant who goes by the name Vanisher on the debut X-Force team... but sadly we don't discover his true identity until he is getting fried on bunch of utility wires. It's a hilarious couple of seconds, and one I learned all about recently speaking with screenwriters/producers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Said Wernick,
The cameo for Vanisher was last minute. You never saw Vanisher on screen in the original script, and then getting caught up in the electricity wires and seeing the sparks, and then Ryan had the idea, 'Oh my God, perfect celebrity cameo. Let's go after the hardest celebrity cameo we can get.' And that's Brad Pitt!
When I sat down with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick earlier this week during the New York press day for Deadpool 2, one thing we talked about extensively was the number of cameos in the film. This included the extremely brief appearance by Brad Pitt, as they broke down how the whole thing came together. I followed up Wernick's answer by asking how, when and where they managed to film the scene, and I was treated to a story as funny as the big screen moment itself.
As it turns out, Brad Pitt didn't ask for a ton of money to do the Deadpool 2 scene, getting only his minimum pay allowed by the union, but he did have a special request. In agreeing to do the scene, according to the producers/writers, Ryan Reynolds really had to go the extra mile for his would-be co-star:
Rhett Reese: We shot in about a half an hour. It was quite a production. It was like a full crew for a half an hour, and Brad agreed to do it for scale, plus a cup of coffee. And then he was really specific about the coffee - said, 'I want this exact coffee from Starbucks, and, Ryan, I want you to deliver it to me.'Paul Wernick: And Ryan did deliver it!Rhett Reese: We got the coffee, Ryan came in and gave it to him. It was hilarious because he kind of forgotten that he asked for it. It was really funny. And then we shot it in about a half an hour.
The moment with Vanisher appearing on the big screen was actually the last thing that was shot as part of Deadpool 2, during what Paul Wernick described as "additional additional photography" (about a month and a half prior to release). The whole thing was done very hush-hush, and thankfully the story didn't break before the movie hit theaters. Said Rhett Reese,
In Los Angeles on the Fox lot is where we did it, in one of the stages. It was just weird, because he kind of sneaked in, we did it, he sneaked out. No one ever knew. And it wasn't until the thing screened that anyone had any idea.
It's an amazing moment in a fantastic film, and one that audiences everywhere can now enjoy. Deadpool 2 is out in theaters everywhere -- and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for a whole lot more from my interview with Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and the other filmmakers and stars behind the blockbuster!
