The scene Morena Baccarin hated shooting: “Nobody needs to see more”
The first Deadpool was a breath of fresh air; after the complete disaster that was Wade Wilson’s appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ was finally given the chance to do things his way.
With Ryan Reynolds at the helm, the 2016 movie was every bit as lewd, rude, and bloodthirsty as the katana-wielding mutant’s best comic book outings. It was an out-and-out triumph and made both character and actor worldwide stars, but it was far from perfect, as Morena Baccarin will tell you.
One of the biggest complaints levelled against the movie was its treatment of Vanessa Carlysle, Wade’s girlfriend from before he gained his powers, who spends most of the film either fawning over her lost love or getting kidnapped. Her portrayal felt like a massive step back for women in superhero movies and a betrayal that felt especially sour, more so because Deadpool is a character all about subverting expectations.
Baccarin, who plays Vanessa, was actually responsible for adding greater depth to the character, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the best experience making the film. Speaking to Cinema Blend, she revealed that an elaborate sex scene between her and Reynolds turned into one of the most awkward moments of her entire career.
“It took two days to shoot, because I think it was us making sweet love for an entire calendar year, so it was all the holidays,” she explained, “We dressed differently for every one. We ended up leaving just a lot on the cutting room floor, because there are a lot of holidays. And I feel good about that, the part that was left out. I literally mean that [was] enough sex. Like nobody needs to see more than what was in the movie.”
The scene in question takes place early in the film, where, after falling in love with each other, Wade and Vanessa quickly get down to business. The pair end up doing the horizontal monster mash for a full year, which is represented by different outfits and set dressings, as well as the sound of Neil Sedaka’s ‘Calendar Girl’.
The most memorable moment has to be International Women’s Day, on which Wade allows Vanessa to peg him for about five minutes; now that’s feminism in action.
Sex scenes have long been a source of controversy on movie sets, as getting jiggy with it on camera goes against most people’s natural instincts, especially when you have to do it for two days straight. This was long before the era of intimacy coordinators that we’re living in at the moment, and while the year-long sex montage is a funny moment in Deadpool, it’s a lot harder to laugh at once you know the truth.
The conditions on the set of Deadpool were far from perfect, which must have only added to the stress Baccarin was feeling, and if you’re hoping she had a better time on the set of Deadpool 2, well, she gets killed off within the first five minutes, and she’s barely in Deadpool & Wolverine. The poor woman.
