Hunt For the Wilderpeople, Taika Waititi’s cracking New Zealand adventure of one man’s (Sam Neill) attempts to connect with his estranged foster son, is a beautifully charming and poignant film that was, quite frankly, one of the more memorable movies released in 2016.
Of course, much of its success stemmed from the brilliant, heartwarming chemistry between Sam Neill’s Uncle Hec and Ricky Baker, the irreverent, street-smart city kid who soon becomes the fish out of water when he’s forced to move to the New Zealand countryside in order to find a new foster home. It’s a stereotype that’s been portrayed by countless actors in the past, to be sure, but none quite like Julian Dennison.
Since his breakout performance in Hunt For the Wilderpeople, the New Zealand teen has been on the up and up and this month saw him in his biggest role yet, playing Firefist in Deadpool 2. Real name Russell Collins, he’s a dangerous kid who falls under the protection of the Merc with a Mouth in the movie, as Josh Brolin’s Cable returns from the future in order to hunt him down. And though he’s central to the plot and Dennison gives a terrific performance in the part, it turns out that he’s not even allowed to see the film.
Chatting on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actor revealed that back in New Zealand, the movie’s rated R-16 and given that he’s only 15, the theater wouldn’t let him watch it. And that’s despite helping to organize a fundraising event for them.
“We got a cinema and they’re like, ‘oh, yeah, you can introduce the movie, you can do everything, but you’re not allowed to watch it,’” Dennison said. “And a few of my mates got kicked out of the cinema as well.”
Kimmel then asked the youngster if his parents were alright with all the profanity in the sequel, to which he explained:
“So, there was some stuff that got cut out of the film. I remember I was doing a scene with Ryan [Reynolds, who plays Deadpool] and he whispered it in my ear, and I’m like, ‘woof, my virgin ears,’” Dennison joked. “But no, I said it, and I can’t say it because it’s television, and it’s live, so I said it, and I freaked out. They really enjoyed the film, though.”
Buoyed by its impressive opening ($301M worldwide), Deadpool 2 is currently bracing for its second weekend at the box office, where it’ll face stiff competition from the oncoming Solo: A Star Wars Story. How it’ll fare remains to be seen, but if it’s more of the Merc’s second coming that you’re after, look no further than our review, along with a play-by-play breakdown of the sequel’s Easter eggs and cheeky references. Seriously, for his second adventure, Wade Wilson takes meta to an entirely new level.
