It’s a great moment.
That’s something [Marvel] do so well, the cameos. You know, they give the people what they want. They give them cameos. But they also don’t use them gratuitously. They’re all there for a reason. And I think you really sense that. Or, I hope people sense that, because I think they’re used really cleverly.
Yeah, I think the way it’s phrased in the movie is they’re giving these characters an ending.
Exactly. All everyone wants in this film, from Cassandra to Wolverine to Gambit, everyone wants an ending. Everyone wants to be understood and to feel like they matter. That was a really nice thing to feel like I was a part of?
Were you on set at the same time as Chris Evans and Jennifer Garner?
I was on the same set as Chris, but I met Jennifer and Channing [Tatum] and Wesley [Snipes], but I don’t think we had a scene [together]. We didn’t actually shoot together.
What security measures were taken to protect the cameos?
We shot all those scenes at Pinewood, so that means it was all very internal. Marvel filmsâ as much as people want the spoilers, I really think, and I hope that people also understand, that there is nothing more satisfying for an audience member to watch the film for the first time and not know who’s gonna come on screen. You don’t want that surprise to be ruined.
So I think that everyone on the production really knew that. And yeah, they could kind of sense how big this would be. You should have heard the screams when these guys turned up onscreen. It was the most satisfying thingâit was so joyful. And it just kept getting better.
I saw it in a critic’s screening, in a one-tenth-full IMAX theater, and people still cheered when Wesley Snipes appeared as Blade.
Amazing. I was gonna say, I wonder what the critics’ readings would have been like, if everyone’s trying to watch this film very seriously, it really makes me laugh.
What was the last scene you shot?
I think it was my ending. The time-ripper. Which is extraordinary. That was a proper thing that I put my hand in, it was all functional. We had this amazing production designer called Raymond Chan, who sadly passed away a few weeks after we finished shooting. He was in a different league. I couldn’t believe the sets we were shooting on, we didn’t have a single thing that was on green screen. The time-ripper was an actual thing that lit up and moved and worked. It was absolutely kinda terrifying how realistic it was.
The big question: Does Cassandra die?
I mean, does anyone die in the MCU? I feel like if this film proves anything it’s that you can literally bring back absolutely anyone. So maybe one day I’ll be pulling a Hugh and pulling over on the side of the road saying, Iâve got to do it!.
There was a part in the movie where I felt like they were setting you up as the big villain for the whole of the MCU.
What a statementâI’ll take it. I mean, I’ve never been as nervous as I was in that cinema. When we sat down and watched it with everyone, a few days ago, I was absolutely shaking, not only because it was freezing, because the [air conditioning] in the States is unhinged, but it was so nerve-wracking. I felt so much pressure to do this character justice because it’s the first time she’s been seen on screen. And yeah, you just want to make the fans happy because these characters mean so much to them. And yeah, I hope I did it justice. And obviously, I’d come back at any moment.
