It seems that Emma Corrin has always possessed the ability to humanize the dramatic roles they’ve played, whether it is Princess Diana in The Crown or a part of a love triangle opposite Harry Styles in My Policeman. It’s perhaps this very skillset that earned them the role of Marvel’s newest supervillain, Cassandra Nova, in Deadpool & Wolverine. 

Directed by Canadian filmmaker Shawn Levy, the MCU film brings together Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman), who team up against a common enemy, Cassandra Nova (Corrin) to save their worlds. 

Corrin‘s Cassandra Nova is introduced as Charles Xavier’s twin, Corrin looked at the origin story in the comics and Cassandra’s relationship with Charles Xavier to formulate their character. 

This role marks the English actor’s first foray into the MCU, which was a thrill, but also challenged them as an actor, it is exactly what they were looking for with their next project. 

The 28-year-old has always been interested in the idea of growing, evolving and learning and starring in one of the biggest movies of the year as a Marvel supervillain has helped their self-belief: “To be able to sort of be honest with the likes of those actors who I’ve admired for so many years and to feel like there’s space for you and that you’re welcomed, and that they’re all rooting for you. It kind of makes you believe in yourself a bit more…”

Corrin sure picked this year’s big hit. The highly anticipated summer film Deadpool & Wolverine, which releases in theatres on Friday, is wildly entertaining. The writing is extremely sharp and witty, filled with countless cameos, jabs at the film industry, pop culture, celebrity gossip, lightly making fun of itself and other studios, as well as Deadpool’s former studio, 20th Century FOX. Reynolds and Jackman entertain and delight with their banter, and Corrin seamlessly joins the ranks of Marvel villains. 

I sat down with Corrin to discuss their MCU debut, working with Reynolds and Shawn and asked them what they would do if they possessed Cassandra’s superpowers.  

MF: You’ve been choosing your roles more carefully to do them justice. What were you looking to do at this point in your career when this role came about?

“I think I was looking to do something that would be a departure from stuff I’d done before and above all else would challenge me as an actor, and I think this ticked the box on all fronts. I mean, I was not expecting to get a call to be in the Marvel Universe, let alone as a villain. And those two things in themselves came with very, like really interesting challenges. And working with this calibre of actors and Ryan and Hugh and with the most amazing director at the helm of this project, Shawn Levy, like, I just felt like a sponge the entire time that I was soaking up all this information and all these new experiences.”

What did you love most about playing a Marvel supervillain?

“I think the amount I was allowed to play with the character and find her as we went along. They foster this environment of improv and collaboration like everyone’s an equal. There are no bad ideas. It’s very encouraging and I think that environment to be in every day on set was inspiring.”

Did you get a chance to do a little bit of improv yourself?

“I mean, it’s funny because it never feels like improv, because I was daunted about doing improv, because I don’t have a background in comedy, and I was worried about it. But then Ryan sort of offered something up, and then you offer an idea back, and then before you know it, you’re just like, spitballing ideas. And, yeah, it’s a cool way to sort of initiate someone into that world without making it scary.”

Ryan said that you are excellent at humanizing the villain and I think you’ve always brought such empathy to the roles you embody. Do you try to find the humanity in a character that’s viewed as a villain?

“I think maybe that’s sort of the reason that they came to me for this role. It was very early on that Shawn and Ryan said, we want Cassandra to not be a normal kind of villain, we want her to have come across as very human, and very relatable. And then suddenly, she’s not. And Shawn kept putting it like he wanted to see the weather change like it’s sunny, it’s sunny, it’s sunny, you think everything’s fine and then suddenly, the clouds come. I felt like I could do that justice as where I think I would have maybe struggled to play a villain that was pure, pure evil. It was a really fun challenge to sort of get the balance of those two tones right.”

So when he said that he wanted you to relate to her in some way, what was the first thing that you found as a hook to lean into Cassandra?

“I don’t know if it was in terms of me relating specifically as Emma, but I looked at her origin story in the comics and her relationship with Charles Xavier, her twin brother and he kills her in the womb and then she manages to like to regrow herself and I found that interesting, given our script, where she is suddenly face to face with Wolverine, who was taken in by Charles Xavier, and has such a close relationship with him. And I was like, wow, if you’ve never had this relationship with your brother, but he’s like the elephant in every room because he’s this benevolent person who’s beloved by everyone and has done all this good work and you’ve created yourself the opposite to that, which I think is interesting, and then this person comes in who’s able to tell you all these things you’ve never known and bridge the gap between both of you. I found that an interesting dynamic and something that you could kind of apply to any family or anyone who’s struggling with family relationships. I thought it was quite fascinating. So I found a bit of drama in that.”

Cassandra is so many things – while playing her, was there a quality or characteristic of hers you wished you had?

“Oh, she’s very direct, and quite unboundaried at times, but she’s very much able to say what she wants and know what she wants, and she doesn’t take any bullshit and I wish I was better at that.”

Speaking of Ryan, Hugh, Shawn what did you realize when you got to work with them creatively and see them in their element?

“It was very inspiring. I mean, Shawn is a real actor’s director. He is amazing at sort of making things feel collaborative, giving very few and very specific instructions. He doesn’t overwhelm you; he just really knows what he wants and can ask for it in a way that feels good. Collaborative but clear and that is a really rare thing to do and Ryan and Hugh were just really cool. I had pinch myself moments to be acting alongside them. They’re just actors at the top of their games and the nicest people ever.”

With this being your first foray in the MCU, what was your expectation going into the Marvel universe and in what ways did it surprise you?

“I was expecting a lot of green screen work and I was quite daunted by it because I haven’t had a background in doing much of that. As you said, I played quite human, drama roles and I was worried about stretching my imagination if I was surrounded by people in green suits, and whatever. But we had no scenes against the green screen, it was all built on sets or location and that’s so rare for a Marvel film and I found it incredible. It was like a playground and I felt like everyone was able to excel in that environment.”

Almost every actor who joins this universe has a pinch-me moment – what was that for you?

“I think my first day on set was with Matthew MacFadyen, Hugh and Ryan and it was insane. I just remember really like shitting myself. And it was also a scene that comes at the end of the film, and it’s quite a big scene for my character. So it was really like a classic film’s schedule, they start you on that day and I was so worried but it was amazing. Like, they just made everyone feel very at home, very comfortable, which is cool.”

In an interview you said what excites you is that we’re constantly growing, evolving, learning – when you reflect on this journey of Deadpool and Wolverine, creating Cassandra, how do you think it’s contributed to your growth as a person and actor? 

“I think probably like self-belief, to be able to sort of be honest with the likes of those actors who I’ve admired for so many years and to feel like there’s space for you and that you’re welcomed, and that they’re all rooting for you. It kind of makes you believe in yourself a bit more and you also need to have a bit of self-belief to be able to, like actually perform well in those situations. So I found that encouraging and I think about improv and comedy, and how these worlds are put together, and specifically the Deadpool world and all the nuts and bolts that go into that. So yeah, it’s been a fantastic experience.”

If you had any of Cassandra’s superpowers in real life, what’s the first thing you’d do and why?

“Oh, my gosh, that’s such a good question. If I could reach into people’s minds I don’t know. It’s that thing with telepathy, which I think is always the thing that catches you out is that I don’t want to know what people are thinking because I spend my whole time worrying about what people are thinking. So I don’t know if I’d want to know, I think that’s kind of worse. As a kid, I always wanted invisibility powers so I could kind of just drift anywhere and not be noticed and like, sneak into places but I don’t know if Cassandra can do that.”

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theatres Friday