“I like cried when I got home”: Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Deadpool 2’ Made Morena Baccarin Do a Potentially Life Threatening Stunt Only to Cut It From The Film

Directed by David Leitch, Deadpool 2 is the eleventh installment in the X-Men film series. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, and others. The story follows Deadpool forming an X-Force to protect a young mutant from time-traveling soldier Cable.

Upon release, the movie became the ninth highest-grossing movie of 2018, with critics considering that the sequel was superior to its predecessor. The performances, storyline, humor, and direction were highly praised. The third installment, Deadpool & Wolverine, was developed with Marvel Studios as Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in 2019, and the rights were returned to Marvel. Morena Baccarin, in an interview, shared about one stunt that traumatized her but did not make it to the screen.

Morena Baccarin recalls a ‘traumatizing’ stunt experience on Deadpool 2

Actress Morena Baccarin plays Vanessa Carlysle in the Deadpool universe, and she is the capstone of Wade Wilson, a.k.a. Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds. In an interview with Collider, the actress shared that her character had an awesome sequence with Wilson in the second installment of the movie, which never made it to the film.

Morena Baccarin shared that while working on Deadpool 2, she had her biggest stunt scene, which was cut from the final cut of the movie. She explained,

My hardest times on set haven’t made it into films, which sucks because you work hard. For the second Deadpool, I did this whole underwater sequence that just never made it to the film, and I still have nightmares about it. It was very traumatic.

Baccarin recalled that the team had put the apartment set underwater, so she was in the room, which was like 20 feet underwater, and there was a roof above her head, and it felt wrong.

The actress mentioned that the whole thing was panic-inducing, and she did not enjoy it at all. In her conversation with Michael Rosenbaum last year, she explained,

It wasn’t even in the film, which made me so mad. They were going to try to take our movements underwater and make it look like we weren’t underwater. We trained to be underwater, doing dialogue, and they sunk the entire apartment in a tank underwater.

The actress further noted that the production team did not anticipate that there were particles and things that had started to float into the water, and as a result, she and Reynolds had severe eye infections. They had to cancel the shoots for the next two days. Morena Baccarin said she couldn’t open her eyes at the time, adding,

I was like a good sport about it, and then I, like, cried when I got home. I was just like, Please let it get easier, you know? And then I would try to open my eyes, and it felt like razor blades, and I was like, At home with a baby, and I can’t even open my eyes. 

Baccarin, however, added that the studios were kind enough to send her baskets and baskets of things. She also revealed that she never saw the footage; she’s got a screenshot but would love to see the footage for which she worked hard. It should be noted that Reynolds was also in the scene and went through the same experience as the actress and even though he was the producer, it was not in his hands to include the scene.

Deadpool 2 sets had safety violations leading to the death of stuntwoman

If the infamous Rust movie incident had taught the entertainment industry anything, then it has to be about being extremely cautious on set. Morena Baccarin’s experience of performing a stunt on set was also traumatising. But back in 2017, Deadpool 2 reportedly was fined nearly $300,000 as the makers failed to provide a safe workplace for stuntwoman Joi Harris.

Harris was killed in a motorcycle crash on Deadpool 2’s Vancouver set in 2017. She was performing a stunt when she was ejected from the motorcycle and crashed through the plate-glass window of a nearby building. Deadline reported that WorkSafeBC imposed the fine on TCF VANCOUVER PRODUCTIONS LTD., and the production was halted immediately.

A source at the time shared,

In the maneuver, which was never more than 15 kilometers per hour, she rode on a flat surface through two open doors and then turned left and went out of camera range. Her exit was a safety ramp to a big platform where the bike was supposed to stop, but she overshot the platform, hit the curb, and was thrown from the bike through a glass window.

Sources also said that Harris was the best candidate for the job, but unfortunately she passed away. The incident about set safety is one of the biggest concerns in a big-budget movie. The discussion is an ongoing debate due to Blake Lively accusing Justin Baldoni and James Heathy of making her uncomfortable on the sets of It Ends With Us.

Safety is not just concerned with stunts or props, but it’s also about how the people on set feel while working.

Deadpool 2 is available to stream on Disney+.