How Deadpool 2 recruited Céline Dion for that emotional power ballad
Leitch may be best known for his work in the action world — he was a longtime stuntman for actors like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and he directed Atomic Blonde and co-directed John Wick — but he jumped at the chance to do a dramatic ballad.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, how did Céline Dion get involved with this?
DAVID LEITCH: It’s probably not what people expected. I wanted to create an original thematic song for the film that sort of was an emotional through-line for the characters. It’s not only Deadpool, but also a lot of characters in the film. I was looking for a thematic song in the classic ‘90s style of “Take My Breath Away” or “My Heart Will Go On.” Because there’s real emotion in the movie, and we’re coming from a real genuine place. So I started to look for material. I was working with John Houlihan, the music supervisor. We were meeting with songwriters, we were hearing riffs and ideas, I was giving them briefings on thematics. And we ended up discovering the song “Ashes.” It just sort of fit and ticked all the boxes of what I was trying to do, story-wise. And I was like, man, I really would love to find an artist to record this — a contemporary artist who’s got the chops to make it super emotional.
What was Céline’s reaction when you brought this to her? Was she a Deadpool fan?
She has a son who’s a fan. But I think she was actually taken aback by the song as well. She’s a really sort of fun personality and a really beautiful person, and I think she understood what we were trying to do. And yeah, it was fun, and there might be some slight satire to it, but the song is a really emotional song, and we needed it to land in a genuine way for the movie, first and foremost. So she got it. And I think she loved the material and she elevated it in a way that only she can do it.
I’m assuming that’s not Ryan Reynolds dancing in high heels, right?
We’ll have to wait and see. [laughs]
Between Ryan and Céline, what was it like to have that much Canadian royalty on set?
Pretty amazing. [laughs] They are like these two Canadian icons, and that was a really fun moment for them to have that banter together at the end.
That was one of the things I wanted to ask you about. How did that come together, that back-and-forth between the two of them at the end?
It’s like, they’re two mega stars. Two icons. Obviously Céline is such a great sport and also [has] great ideas and actually incredible comedic timing. She’s an incredible performer in not just music, but also her stage show. She’s the real deal.
Was there anything about working with her that really surprised you at all?
I think we knew she was really excited about the material. From everything I knew about her, I knew she was a really fun, collaborative person, and she was exactly that and the sort of consummate professional. She gave 110 percent in all the performance takes.
And the minute she opens her mouth and starts to sell the song, there were goosebumps. Like the first time we did playback and she sang the song from beginning to end, I didn’t yell cut. I didn’t know what to do. We’re all kind of breathless, people are crying, and I’m like, “Um…cut?” [laughs] It was really an out-of-body experience for everybody there. People were like, “Holy s—, what did I just see?” And that’s the magic that she brings to music. It’s no joke.
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