We Are Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick - writers of the Deadpool Movie - Ask Us Anything!

Was this screenplay written with Ryan Reynolds in mind as the title character?

Rhett: Yes. Ryan hired us to write the screenplay. We auditioned against a bunch of other writers for this job with Ryan himself. And he was intimately involved in cracking the outline.

We sent him screenplay pages 20 or so at a time. And it's, there's no other way to say it. He's just the guy. He's a genius and he's been with us every step of they and elevating the material every step of the way.

is it true that Matthew Mcconaughey was supposed to cameo in Zombieland and not Bill Murray originally?

Paul: Yes. Absolutely. In fact, we had a conversation with Matthew and Woody is friends with him. He had not read the script yet. I'm still not sure he ever read the script haha but we ended up with the ultimate cameo in Bill Murray and couldn't be more pleased.

If there's a sequel to Deadpool, do you guys have a contractual right to write that film as well or is it negotiations all over again?

Paul: Are you our agent?

Rhett: Let's hope not - you should know the answer to that question. But in truth, it's a negotiation.

Paul: Would you like to be our agent?

Will there be a Deadpool Christmas special?

Rhett: Ooooo.

Paul: This movie is a Deadpool Christmas special!

Rhett: That said - bite your tongue! Chewbacca ain't comin' near this thing!

Was the process difficult to make sure the film got an 'R' rating?

Rhett: Um Well, the decision up front was Ryan Reynolds' decision and he said "Push it. Push it real good." hahaha There's a Salt N Peppa reference for you.

He said "Write it R, go as far as you want and we'll see if the studio is okay with it" and thank god they turned out to be okay with it!

Some of the movie's production seemed a little bit worrisome at times with the leaked test footage and a draft of the script getting out on the Internet. We're you ever worried the film would never be made?

Rhett: Well - we were convinced it would never be made multiple times. But those things you just mentioned are the reasons it did get made.

Paul: Which is why we are the prime suspects for both leaks.

Rhett: Paul was Professor Plum in the dining room, with the candlestick. And I was Colonel Mustard int he study with the rope.

Paul: Now we need both an agent an a lawyer.

You have collaborated with a lot of talented improv comedians/ad libbers, from Ryan Reynolds and TJ Miller in Deadpool, to Bill Murray in Zombieland, to Kristin Wiig, Ralph Garman, and Chelsey Crisp in The Joe Schmo Show. What is your role as writers when working with people and scenes that will rely on that kind of spontaneity?

Rhett: Every name you just mentioned, when someone like that is involved, they make you look good. So your job is to provide a springboard for them to jump off of. And they are the ones that do the jumping and all the crazy flips in the air and stick the landing. So... we have an immense respect for improvisational actors. They've made our careers in a lot of ways.

You surround yourself with talent and you look good by virtue of that and that's been a rule of thumb for us.

Do either of you read comics and or have liked deadpool for a while?

Rhett: The ugly little truth is that when we were approached to write Deadpool we'd never heard of him. And all of our affection love for him came from diving into the wealth of comics and reading what all these phenomenal writers had done before us. We fell in love with him just like you and everybody else did. Just late in the process or later in life - just a little later in life.

Paul: He's a self-loathing egomaniacal nutbag and they say "write what you know."

That is amazing, I am glad you enjoy the character, I cant wait to see the movie. Do y'all think you will do more comic book movies in the future?

Rhett: If we have anything to say about it, yes. But you never know what the future holds, and we have some original projects that are also very near and dear to us.

If you could see your version of Deadpool with the beautiful Ryan Reynolds star in any Disney animated film, which film would you want to see him in and why?

Paul: Frozen - because he's got a beautiful voice.

Rhett: And I would say Beauty and the Beast because that's how I feel every time I"m standing next to Ryan Reynolds.

Paul: Are you the beauty or the beast?

Rhett: Come on.

How do you feel about how obsessed fans get over this character? Is it a little scary? Got any crazy fan stories?

Paul: We love it. I have 3 Deadpool cosplayers sleeping in my back yard.

Rhett: Paul, too, is currently dressed as Deadpool.

Paul: From Origins. Don't look me in the eyes cuz of the lasers.

How do you feel about the viral success of your ad campaigns? Did you have a hand in that?

Rhett: We did have a hand in that, we still do. Ha And there's more cool shit to come in the next 3 days.

Paul: It's so rare that a movie tonally makes it from script to screen to the marketing campaign and this was one of the exceptions. This - the marketing campaign has been brilliant, the marketers behind the campaign have been brilliant. And have really geared up the audience into seeing this movie.

Rhett: And they aren't tricking you into going to a movie that's different from what you'll see. They are selling what you'll see. It's a very honest campaign and a good one.

Paul: The Valentine's Day billboards - this is love story, truly. The joke's not on your girlfriend of going to see this movie, it's on your boyfriend.

Rhett: But don't worry - there's a ton of dismemberment.

If Deadpool were able to sense the thoughts of his writers (which seems to be a thing he does in the comics), which of your many zany ideas would you most fear him taking revenge on your for?

Paul: Oh boy.

Rhett: What did we put in there that he would take revenge on us for? Well.. we put Deadpool in blue Crocs int he movie and I half expect to come around the corner and see him ready to bludgeon me to death with one of those blue Crocs. Which would be a painful way to go. And undignified.

Paul: But fitting!

Where their xmen characters you wanted to use but couldn't because they have plans elsewhere or because of the R rating?

Also, favourite mutant? Any plans for Cable?

Rhett: No, I mean we chose the characters we chose for very specific reasons. We wanted Colossus because we thought he'd be a great comic foil to Deadpool. And we love Negasonic Teenage Warhead because of her name.

Paul: Is Spiderman an X-Man? Haha

Rhett: Paul kids, Paul kids.

Rhett: Well - it's not Deadpool, he's not a mutant.

Paul: Super Grover?

Rhett: That's hilarious. That's great. That used to be my tag when I played video games. So I have a soft spot in my heart for Super Grover that will never be surpassed by any super hero. Shoutout to my Tribes brothers!

Is there anything that you really wanted put into the movie that didn't make the cut, or something you didn't want in it that ended in the movie?

Also, if you two were given a massive budget for a movie that you had absolute control over (production, direction, etc), what kind of movie would you like to make?

Paul: We had a moment where Wade tosses the action figure Deadpool from Wolverine: Origins in the trash and calls it the worst fucking piece of shit in the history of earth.

What was your first instinct on the level of gore in deadpool the movie?

Rhett: What'd you say? The studio put no kind of leash on us so we wanted to push it. With the caveat that we never wanted to alienate a genearl audience, but we pushed it. We like creative violence and this movie more than any movie we've done in the past allowed us to get creative with slicing and dicing.

Paul: We were given the gift of an R rating and that allowed us to get away with things we could usually not get away with in a superhero move. This was an apple among oranges. You know, bullets in the head, blood spurts, nothing was off limits.

What I meant is how much gore did you want to involve in the movie before shooting?

Rhett: I would say the exact amount that's in there. Yea, you're gonna see what we wanted definitely.

Who is the mind/ad team behind this extremely badass marketing campaign? As a advertising student, I need to know that

Paul: Marc Weinstock is the leader of this brilliant team of marketing geniuses.

Rhett: But don't forget Ryan Reynolds.

Paul: But don't forget Ryan.

Rhett: It's important to us that Ryan remains the author, ya know, of the campaign because he so lives and breathes the character. When he swatted at the imaginary bees in the Australia Day promo, that was maybe the funniest ad lib I have ever seen.

Paul: The guy laughing int he background of the video is me!

Rhett: I didn't know that - that's awesome!

Paul: I couldn't help myself.

Rhett: But thanks to the genius - that ridiculous hat Ryan wore, that was the genius international marketing team at Fox.

It seems you have both written for almost every genre, What is your favorite thus far? I cannot wait for this movie, I'm so happy and excited that it has the R rating; Deadpool as anything else just wouldn't be Deadpool.

Rhett: Where here's a dirty little secret. We were the first runner up to the write the 50 Shades of Grey movie.

Paul: True story.

Rhett: True story. So there's no genre we don't want to tackle. Again, they say "Write what you know."

Did you worry that you would write a great script and then someone else would come along and fuck it up?

Rhett: Uh... hahah. YES. We always worry about that.

Paul: We always worry about us fucking it up.

Rhett: We have a phrase that we didn't make up but we just call it "assassins". Hollywood is full of assassins and you never know where they're coming from.

If Ryan Reynolds was busy "washing his hair", who would you have loved to have been cast as Deadpool?

Rhett: Long sigh

Paul: Is Ryan naked while he's getting his hair washed? Cuz that's all we can think about.

How long had the Deadpool script been in development? Was it written before the film was green lit, like when the test footage took place?

What difficulties did you have writing this movie versus other films?

How much of the film would you say has been ad-libbed or scenes were given extra attention to try different jokes out (specifically thinking of TJ Miller stating a lot of the "you look like..." jokes got caught due to content)??

Paul: It's been in development for 6 1/2 years and was written long before the test footage was shot. The test footage was shot in 2011 and the script was written in 2009. We've had a draft every year, and the script was leaked in 2014. And that's really the reason we're sitting here today. You guys - the fans - brought this to the screen with your passion and love.

Paul: This was the easiest movie we ever wrote - the hardest to get made, but the easiest to script. It's so much fun to write the character and the voice - it lives within our heads. He's irreverent, funny, outrageous - what else would you add?

Rhett: And you get to break every rule when you write him. Every rule of decorum and every screenwriting rule. And what's more fun than that?

Paul: Most filmmakers have a passion project and it's usually a small independent movie. Ours was a big Marvel/Fox superhero movie.

Rhett: Paul's touching himself again. I guess this s what passion looks like.

Paul: You should see how it feels.

You guys kiss your mother's with those mouths?

Paul: I kiss Rhett's mother with this mouth.

Rhett: This partnership is over.

Paul: If I teamed up with your mom, we'd still be Reese-Wernick.

How did it feel for the idea to FINALLY get through fox? Also, what are some things you had to cut from the movie because it was too dirty/vulgar?

Paul: It's a dream come true. We've spent 6 1/2 years pushing the ball up the hill only to have it roll back and crush us each and every time. So finally see it come to live on the screen makes us happier than you can imagine.

Rhett: Paul's touching himself as he talks about this right now.

Paul: I'm actually touching you, Rhett.

Rhett: So that's what that was.

Paul: We've been partners so long we're not sure who's touching who but we enjoy it.

What was your favorite moment on set?

Rhett: I would answer the banter between Ryan Reynolds and TJ Miller in the bar. hearing two of the world's finest improvisers both deliver our lines and sometimes improve upon them was something I'll personally never forget.

Paul: My favorite day on set was the time we brought in a sushi chef.

Will you be writing the Deadpool sequel if it happens or will some other writers take charge? Also are there any characters you would like to include in the sequel (if it happens) that you couldn't include in the upcoming movie?

Rhett: Well, I mean, absolutely. There are characters linked to Deadpool such as Cable, Siryn, etc. plus a plethora of X-Men characters to explore. We are licking our chops.

Paul: That's me licking your chops. Again.

Rhett: This is starting to sound like the ComiCon appearance of Dan Radcliffe and James McAvoy.

How do I convince my wife to see your movie with me? Nothing has worked so far. ;)

Rhett: Nothing as worked so far... Have you considered chloroform?

Paul: Oh! And Ryan Reynolds takes his shirt off. And his pants.

Rhett: And his underpants!

Was an NC-17 rating ever on the table?

Rhett: No, it wasn't. Studios just don't make NC-17 movies. But that said, we wouldn't have wanted to make one. We think Deadpool goes just the right amount of "far".

Is Deadpool more a 4chan, a reddit or a 9gag?

Rhett: Reddit all the way. Smiles

How do you get into the writing business? Just a curious enthusiast.

Paul: Write! And keep writing.

Rhett: We call it "seat time." Wear out the seat of your chair and watch a ton of movies,

Paul: Live a ton of life, because you're always drawing on personal experience.

Rhett: And read a ton of history and literature. And watch Breaking Bad.

What's the first thing you are going to do when the movie is released to theaters?

Paul: Go see it. Again and again and again.

Quite honestly, it's a true thrill to watch the movie with an audience. We spend our time more watching you watch the movie than we do the movie itself. So if there's a guy staring at you for an hour an 46 minutes in the dark, it's probably Rhett or myself.

Rhett: Or you starring in Stephen King's Gerald's Game.

What is your favorite line from the movie? Have you ever gotten to use a Deadpool line in real life?

Paul: We sit around, Ryan, Rhett and myself, and quote lines from the movie all day long. It's rather insufferable.

Rhett: And pathetic. I'll say my favorite line of Paul's, which is the joke about Professor X and the X-Men timelines.

Paul: Mine is what Vanessa says to Wade about his appearance near the end of the movie.

How annoying is it when someone calls Deadpool, spider-man?

Rhett: Hahaha Only annoying for Deadpool, we're cool with it.

Paul: And Spiderman.

You already had a completed script before the movie was greenlit, so when Fox said yes, did you change and rework the script?

Rhett: Most of the changes after a greenlight have to do with budgetary and logistical issues. So yes we did change it, but creatively it stayed very similar.

Hello fellow humans,

This question is for the both of you, what is your least favorite food?

Rhett: Coconut, I gave Tallahassee in Zombieland my exact aversion to coconut. The texture, not the taste.

Was this film made with the idea that a sequel was always going to happen?

Paul: We write every movie with the idea that a sequel is going to happen. At least, that's our hope. Doesn't always come to fruition. But yes, we've spent the last 6 1/2 years thinking of not only this movie but Deadpool movies that will follow.

Rhett: You're jinxing us! So quit!

Were you on set during the filming? If so, did it inspire any re-writes or additions / deletions to the script?

Paul: Every single day. And every single day.

What do you think sets your scripts apart from others?

Are there elements of storytelling you focus on?

Rhett: I think one thing we pride ourselves in is an ability to juggle different tones and find combinations of tones that stand apart from what people are used to seeing.

Plus, we write all our scripts in wedding font.

When did you start writing Deadpool? And how much fun have you had writing it? Any shenanigans that you'd like to share?

Rhett: Writing Deadpool was a joy. I remember sitting in PF Chang's in Santa Monica, California 6 years ago writing the scene where Deadpool fights Colossus and I was practically bouncing up and down in my chair. Dreaming of a moment when that scene would come true on the big screen with an honest-to-god CG Colossus and Ryan Reynolds in a suit. So when that came true, you can imagine how I felt.

The toughest part was the intervening five years because so much of our job requires begging people to trust us. And the really gratifying thing is that this regime at Fox did trust us and they deserve all the credit in the world. If I could send one message to Hollywood it would be to trust the lunatics sometimes.

Was there any pressure to tone down the script?

i.e. get it to PG 13 rating.

Paul: We wrote a PG13 draft of the script somewhere in the 6 1/2 years of development.

Rhett: It wasn't terrible but it felt a little off. There's was just something wrong about it.

How much comic-book reading did you do as part of the preparation process? What character notes did you work with for creating an identity for Colossus?

Rhett: Well, I mean, we did a fair amount. I mean, that was our job. But we knew Colossus from previous comics so that was easier. Um You need to do your reading and then you need to set that stuff aside, because you don't want to become a mimic. Our job was not to mimic the brilliant writers who came before us. It was to put our own individual spin on the characters, while also being faithful.