Stefan Kapičić Interview: The Deadpool 2 Actor Talks His Character, Career, And Love Of Comics | SDCC 2018

The future is bright for Deadpool. While that first film managed to be one hell of a surprise with its $783 million, Deadpool 2, with its $732 million haul thus far, has proven that it wasn’t a fluke. People like Deadpool as a character and are willing to head out into the theaters to see him in droves. Though while Deadpool is the main attraction, he is, by no means, by himself.

In Deadpool, audiences were introduced to a comic book-accurate version of Colossus, a metal superhero who has populated the comics for decades. In the films, he has been present, but instead as an American hero with the ability to turn into a smooth metal man — not the ridged metal man we’re used to seeing. In both Deadpool and Deadpool 2, the Boy Scout-ish character was challenged by the Merc with the Mouth in the best way possible, making for a fantastic dynamic.

I sat down with actor Stefan Kapičić, who plays Colossus in the films, to talk about his character, his career, and his love of comics.

LRM: So, “Deadpool 2” came out, made a big splash, made 729 million dollars worldwide so far, so pretty much on par with the first one in a big way. And, obviously, for you, big deal for you, because he played a much bigger role in this movie. So coming off of that, what were sort of the biggest differences between “Deadpool 1” and “Deadpool 2” as far as your involvement?

Kapičić: Well, the biggest differences that we have like in new levels in Colossus’ attitude and his behavior, and you know, we’re still following the same path in which Colossus is some sort of a father figure to the X-Men Trainees.

And, the biggest one that I’m focusing at, and we were focusing at is developing that Deadpool and Colossus’ relationship, which, as you can see in the sequel, is much bigger and it’s much stronger in so many ways. They said Colossus is a father figure in a way, or like older brother, and the point is we started in the first part with Tim Miller’s vision of Colossus to be comic-accurate as much as we can, and using the older stuff …

You know, of course, Russian accent, and you know, not swearing, or you know, being that old-school superhero that everybody needs in a way, because I like to say that Marvel … That Colossus is, in a way, Marvel’s response to a Superman-kind of character, you know?

Colossus… Man of Steel, but the original man of steel, if I can say it that way. So I’m really happy that we, in that way, made this upgrade in so many levels and that the fans are loving it so much and that we have like so much of the new additions to the cast as Josh [Brolin] and Zazie [Beetz]. They’re brilliant actors, that they brought, for me, exact comedic attitudes for Cable and Domino. So all this team that we’re building up in the Deadpool 2, it just works perfectly.

LRM: Right. It is an entire team. What do you want to see more out of Colossus in the future as the franchise continues?

Kapičić: Well, the thing that I would personally love is to finally, to Colossus finally meet with Kitty Pryde, or with his sister Magik, Illyana, and we will see Illyana in New Mutants. They’re coming out next year, so we never know what’s going to be on the path of Colossus’ development in the franchise, especially now with all these things regarding MCU coming together.

It can be so many different ways, but the thing is people love Colossus, this version of Colossus, which I did, and I just want to continue the normal path that we’re already going on, and you know, things of the first parts that got pulled, Colossus … We had like much more to do, and especially during the fight scene with Juggernaut.

LRM: Love that scene.

Kapičić: That’s one of … I’m a comic book geek, so for me, if you asked me like many years ago which scene I would like to do, which fight I would love to see, definitely one of the best fights for me would be Colossus versus Juggernaut, because I’m an X-Men fan, without … A long time ago, from long time ago, and for an actor, getting the role in a superhero movie is a beautiful job, but for me, as a comic book geek, it’s … I love to say that. It’s like an Academy Award for my inner child, for like the little Stefan that was crazy about Marvel and the comics in general.

So for me, this role had so many different angles, and I’m so proud, and especially because I’m coming from Eastern Europe, so there’s not that many characters that I can play with my accent, or be a part of it. You have like … If you watch … If you know like comic books, of course you have Colossus, thank God I’m playing him, but you have Kraven the Hunter, which I would love to play.

LRM: There we go. Kraven the Hunter … I was about to ask that. Is there anyone else you’d like to play?

Kapičić: That’s one of the things, and you know … I’m like 6’5, and I’m always my beard and things, and a lot of people are like, “Yeah, yeah you should play that, but still,” we never know what’s going to happen with Colossus’ human form in the future. There are like some talks, so we’ll see what’s going to happen, but the thing is, and maybe Omega Red. We saw little glimpse of Omega Red, but I would go for these two characters, if you ask me.

LRM: He didn’t make the final cut so there’s still a chance.

Kapičić: Still a chance, but yeah, for me, Colossus in the X-Men franchise, definitely, this is like on the other side, like, hunting Spider-Man would be really fun for me.

LRM: Yeah, for sure. Any word on whether or not Colossus is gonna be involved in X-Force?

Kapičić: The thing is, we have a beautiful relationship, so with the franchise, I cannot say much, but as you can see in the sequel, they’re like … the story continues, to be continued.

LRM: Right.

Kapičić: And as Colossus became one of, as I said, fan favorites. People love him so much, I don’t think that … I’m sure that you’re gonna see Colossus in a few more movies. In the future, definitely.

LRM: What are some other potential future battles you’d like to see between Colossus and someone else?

Kapičić: Well, unfortunately, Infinity War is already done, so I was hoping to see Colossus going versus Thanos, which will be really interesting, especially playing Josh Brolin playing Cable and Thanos at the same time. That’ll be fun to see, but as Col … I would like to, you know, just interacting with all the other Marvel characters. That will be really nice to see and the confusions are even like getting into sort of like a friendly fight with Hulk. That will be … every single thing now with the same universe colliding will be really great to see, especially X-Men joining Avengers or going versus Avengers. For me, as a fan, and I’m talking strictly as a fan-

LRM: Sure.

Kapičić: that would be the most beautiful thing to see.

LRM: Absolutely. So you mentioned Kraven Hunter and all that. If you were to choose maybe another Marvel Hero, is there anyone in mind that you think that you would love to play in any way?

Kapičić: Oh man, so many of those. Well, for me, there are so many great characters. As a fan, I would tell you one of my favorite characters is definitely The Punisher. But then again, Jon Bernthal is doing amazing job as The Punisher, especially he’s American so I don’t have a chance in that way, but I would like … As I said, Kraven the Hunter would be my next favorite thing to play in this universe, so that’s the thing. The other heroes, like, all the actors that are playing heroes right now, I don’t have any problems with not even one of them. So for me, everybody is getting the role that they deserve so everything is going perfectly well. We’re getting less and less of heroes free to play.

LRM: So what’s next for you on the horizon following “Deadpool 2”? Are you looking to stretch your career in different ways or what’s next for you?

Kapičić: For me, it’s like the Deadpool franchise opened so many doors for me and I’m waiting for Better Call Saul Season 4 to premiere tonight at the San Diego Comic-Con. I have a really nice role in the Season 4, so that’s coming out in August. Then I have a some show that I cannot say, but it’s really good. It’s coming out on Netflix later this year. I’m doing two movies right now and I’m waiting to see what’s gonna happen with X-Force and with possible Deadpool 3, but we’ll know a lot things about it really soon. And of course, I cannot wait to see all my colleagues and my cast members in two days and I will see the DVD of Deadpool 2 with Ryan and Zazie and everybody who’s gonna be here for it.

LRM: Right. With Disney pretty much almost guaranteed it seems like, Comcast just dropped out of the whole Fox bidding deal, are there any concerns about them putting the kibosh on the Deadpool franchise in the near future once maybe X-Force is played out?

Kapičić: You know what, the thing is, nobody is stupid in those, I say studios or worlds, so nobody’s stupid and they know all of these things are making money and people love the way it’s already done.

LRM: Right.

Kapičić: You know what, the thing is, nobody is stupid in those, I say studios or worlds, so nobody’s stupid and they know all of these things are making money and people love the way it’s already done. So if you wanna destroy a franchise, I don’t see sense in that and I’m sure that’s not gonna happen.

LRM: Sure.

Kapičić: You know what, the thing is, nobody is stupid in those, I say studios or worlds, so nobody’s stupid and they know all of these things are making money and people love the way it’s already done. So if you wanna destroy a franchise, I don’t see sense in that and I’m sure that’s not gonna happen. I’m sure that Disney, or whatever happens, whoever gets it, is gonna stay honest and let the franchise live as it was because there is no reason why would you like make Deadpool PG because that’s not Deadpool anymore. You have so many characters that you can do, like play like that. But for Deadpool people, they love Deadpool as R-rated movie and Ryan Reynolds is doing that. And all the other characters in the franchise. So I don’t think that X-Force is gonna be nothing different than what Fox was thinking to do with it. It’s still … there needs to pass a lot of time before they start getting involved in the creativity of that. So I don’t … I’m not afraid for X-Force and Deadpool for like a few years from now definitely. There’s no fear. I think everything’s gonna stay the same in the next few years and I don’t think that will ever change because that needs to go like that.

LRM: It works, like it’s making money.

Kapičić: It works. It’s really … It’s a feel-good movie. Yes, it is violent and yes, it does have swear words and whatever, but that’s Deadpool and R-rated because of that, they R-rated. Why would you change that? It wouldn’t make any sense. They wouldn’t like shoot themselves in the leg. It would be crazy.

LRM: Is there anyone who you look up to as an actor that you want to, not necessarily emulate but someone who really inspires you to do your best as an actor?

Kapičić: You know who I like? The thing is, I finished at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. I finished four years in eastern Europe. That’s one of the biggest schools in eastern Europe, academies. My heroes when I was a kid were always old school actors like Richard Burton or Peter O’Toole.

LRM: Ah, the classics.

Kapičić: Laurence Olivier. Those are the people that really know what they are doing. The old school, real British actors.

Then again of course, after that you always adore and you loved actors like Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro. There’s so many amazing actors in the States and worldwide. I don’t have exact idols or people that I’m worshiping in that way as a fan, but I worship the craft of all these people that I mentioned because it’s unique in so many ways.

LRM: Do you have a certain milestone that you’re looking for or saying, “I want to reach for that and hope I get it within the next few years, or so,” the next big thing for you?

Kapičić: I would love to just do a role which would be … I’m not picking specific award, but I would just like to go and do some sort of a competition. Award competition. I don’t mind if that’s Emmys or Golden Globes. I’m not choosing specifically, but I would like to do something really specific. Maybe an independent movie which would bring me some really specific role to play.

To try to dig into myself and find all the materials to build a beautiful character and a beautiful story. That’s one of my things that I’m trying to get into and of course, theater. Because theater is my first love. I did so many plays in my life, so I just wish to go back to theater in the one moment. Just go back working with Shakespeare or Greek tragedies. Things that are essence of our acting beings, if I can say.

LRM: What is your process as far as playing Colossus in general?

Kapičić: For me, this one was not much tougher than the first part. In the first part, we made Colossus so it wasn’t hard in the way of creating it? Which of course in the first part they had so much help from Tim Miller because he is a huge comic book geek, and that was his vision. He helped me build and bring Colossus. Now in the sequel, I had the base so it was much easier for me in the character way to build it, but of course, it is much harder for me because now he’s doing all the things which I’m not used to because I’m a movie actor.

I’m not CGI guy so I didn’t know all the tricks and the things that I needed to do. Then again, I had so much help from Ryan Reynolds and David Leitch and Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick on the set always. I had a beautiful relationship with the writers of Deadpool. With both of them, which I’m really grateful for. Those guys are amazing. Those guys are so brilliant, and I’m a huge fan of their work from Zombieland through all these things that they did before. I’m so happy that, I’m really lucky in that way that I have this opportunity to work with all these names and all these really great people and to become in a way, a friend to them.

LRM: David Leitch, how is it working with him compared to Tim Miller?

Kapičić: The thing is they are both amazing directors. You can never compare a director because every single one has their own color, their own statement as a director. Tim, that was his first movie and he did something as a phenomenon as Deadpool one. Then again, you have David Leitch who’s a master of action scenes and the guy that did all these John Wick and Atomic Blonde movies. He’s really amazing, as you can see that in the action scenes and everything else. Working with both of them, it’s just giving you so much of experience and the things that … It’s just like a school. It’s really great, amazing teachers that you work with. You’d never compare your teachers just because they’re giving you new …

LRM: They’re so different.

Kapičić: Yeah, so different.

LRM: Education.

Kapičić: You can never say if someone is better. They’re both amazing in different ways. They both made again, great success that the one was Deadpool one and that’s something that will forever stay as a phenomenon. When it came out, nobody expected it. Then again, you had somebody that everybody expected, okay what will they get? Can it be the same as the first one? We did the same phenomenon in a different way. We made the money and everything, and the reactions are amazing. It’s a different movie in so many ways. Of course, if you haven’t seen Deadpool, but the movies are different in so many ways. That’s why I love both of them.

LRM: Did you have a chance to see the trailer for Bad Times at the El Royale?

Kapičić: Yes. Yes. I loved it. I loved it. That was really, wow. I didn’t know what to expect. It was like, “Oh my god. Look at it!” It looks brilliant.

LRM: How do you feel, considering [director Drew Goddard] is who you may be working with in “X-Force” should Colossus be involved?

Kapičić: I’m really, really happy and excited about it.

LRM: Great. All right, well thank you so much.

Kapičić: Thank you so much.

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