Emma Corrin Reveals The Unlikely Family Favourite Who Inspired Their Deadpool & Wolverine Villain

Emma Corrin
Emma Corrin via Associated Press

Emma Corrin is about to step into their most villainous role yet – with a little help from some iconic movie characters.

The Golden Globe-winning actor plays Cassandra Nova – Dr. Charles Xavier’s villainous twin sister – in Deadpool & Wolverineopposite stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.

To bring the role to life, The Crown actor took inspiration from two larger-than-life film characters.

“I drew inspiration from Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, which was Ryan’s reference when we started,” Emma told People magazine.

The Austrian actor gave a chilling performance as the SS officer Hans Landa in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film set during Nazi reign, and went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.

The stars of Deadpool pictured together in London
The stars of Deadpool pictured together in London via Associated Press

Emma added that their other inspiration was not actually your classic “villain”.

“I was really inspired by Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka. Sort of a nonchalant, detached power,” Emma added.

The My Policeman actor may be best known for playing Princess Diana in the fourth season of The Crown, but they underwent quite a physical transformation to bring the new villain to life.

“It was basically just a lot of time in hair and makeup is what it was. I had a bald cap and long prosthetic fingers, which meant that I couldn’t do anything during the day,” they told People. 

“Great for my screen time. Not so great for going to the bathroom alone. I always had someone with me. It was very humbling.”

In a separate interview with Screen Rant, Emma spoke about also turning to James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart’s performances as Professor X for inspiration.

Emma Corrin at the Deadpool premiere
Emma Corrin at the Deadpool premiere via Associated Press

“I hesitated before I did because I was like, ‘Do I want to get too close? Will I still be able to make it my own?’,” they admitted. “But I found it really interesting how they portrayed someone whose power is very internal and telepathic in that telepathic world.”

Emma added: “I wanted to see if there were any bits that I could use or pay homage to that, obviously, fans would really enjoy.”

Before joining the MCU, the Emmy-nominated actor admitted to Empire that they were “not a Marvel person”, and needed a bit of a crash course after signing up for the role.

Critics have already shared their initial rave reactions to Deadpool & Wolverine, calling it “the shot in the arm the MCU so desperately needed” and the “most fun I’ve had at the movies in years”.

RELAT