Sometimes audiences can forget just how much work actors put into scenes that never make it into the final cut of a movie. During a recent conversation with Collider’sSteve Weintraubat FanExpo Chicago,Morena Baccarinshared one suchexperience from filmingDeadpool 2that was as challenging as it was unforgettable—for all the wrong reasons.
“My hardest times on set haven’t made it into films, which really sucks because you work really hard,” Baccarin revealed. “For the secondDeadpool, I did this whole underwater sequence that just never made it into the film, and I still have nightmares about it. It was very traumatic.” The scene, which was designed to look like it was taking place in space, involved Baccarin performing in an apartment set that was entirely submerged underwater. “They put the apartment set underwater. So I was in a room much like this, 20 feet underwater. There was a roof over my head—it felt so wrong,” she said.
Despite the challenging conditions, Baccarin powered through, though it wasn’t easy. She said:
“We performed the scene, with divers giving us oxygen, and [Ryan Reynolds] seemed so totally comfortable and totally fine, and I was freaking out the whole time. We finally got through it, and we had eye damage from the bacteria and from particles of clothing and things that were in the water because we had to open our eyes the whole time, and it just never made it into the film.”
Morena Baccarin Won’t Be Doing Underwater Work Anymore
Theexperience was so intense that Baccarinhas sworn off underwater scenes for good. “They asked me, they were like, ‘Are you comfortable?’ I was like, ‘Well, no, but are you going to make me do it anyway?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, pretty much if you’re willing to try.’ And I was like, ‘Sure I’ll try.’”
Even after practicing for a week in a tank, the actual shoot was a different beast altogether. Baccarin continued:
“If I’m sitting in a chair with weights on me 20 feet underwater, and I completely freak out, and I need to get air, there’s a diver that can give me air. But if I mess up putting the mouthpiece in my mouth and I gag on water, I’m really far from the surface. The whole thing was really panic-inducing. I did not enjoy it.”
Baccarin’s storyis a reminder of the sometimes unseen, yet extraordinary lengths actors go to in bringing these scenes to life—even when those scenes end up on the cutting room floor. Baccarin currently stars inDeadpool & Wolverine, playing in theatres now.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Wolverine joins the “merc with a mouth” in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.
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