CNN
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With more than half a century’s experience in Hollywood, you would think that veteran actor Leslie Uggams has plenty of words of wisdom for her “Deadpool & Wolverine” costar Ryan Reynolds.
“Are you kidding me? I get advice from him,” she laughingly told CNN in a recent interview. “I mean, look at all the projects that he’s doing. He’s absolutely terrific.”
Uggams is reprising her role of Blind Al in the “Deadpool” franchise’s latest film, as Wade Wilson/a.k.a. Deadpool’s (Reynolds) foulmouthed roommate, after appearing in both 2016’s “Deadpool” and the sequel “Deadpool 2” two years later.
At 81, Uggams would be forgiven if she wanted to slow down, but she loves playing the visually challenged, crotchety “Deadpool” character.
“She’s feisty, she’s wild,” Uggams said of Blind Al (full name: Althea). “She says what she means and it’s nice to do something that’s totally different from anything that I’ve ever been associated with.”
Turns out, she even based her performance on someone she knew growing up.
“I remember when I was like 12 or 13, there was a guy in our neighborhood who was sightless and he liked to drink a lot, so he was always kind of nasty,” she recalled. “So one day he was about to cross the street, and I happened to be there and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, you know, traffic, I’m worried about him.’ And I went to help him. And he cussed me out and he hurt my feelings because I thought I was doing a good deed.”
She continued to say that she always remembered that situation and “kind of applied it to Blind Al.”
“’I can do what I could. Leave me alone. I don’t need your help!’ That’s her attitude,” she added of the character.
Uggams said Reynolds has been “welcoming” since they worked together on the first film eight years ago.
“When we finished the first one, finished shooting it and everything, I remember he knocked on the dressing room door,” she recalled. “He said ‘I just want you to know, I’m so excited about you doing this role.’ And then he talked about my audition and how he felt about it.”
“He’s so smart,” she added. “I wish he would tell me about some of these investments he’s making. That would be nice.”
Reynolds is a pretty successful entrepreneur, with a phone company, liquor brand and soccer team in his purview, but he also clearly has an eye for casting because Uggams’ character is beloved by fans.
A native of Harlem, New York, the actress is revered for her long career, which has spanned Broadway, iconic TV projects like 1977’s “Roots” – for which she was nominated for an Emmy – and critically acclaimed films like last year’s “American Fiction.” She began performing as a child and never stopped, and has seen the industry change.
“Some of the roles that were offered to you (in the past) were not great,” she said. “I remember I was doing a movie with Charlton Heston, and the director said to me, ‘Why do you wanna do acting? You know, you sing.’ And I said ‘Well, why can’t I do both?’”
Uggams said she would love to see more opportunities for actors of color and more moguls like Tyler Perry who are invested in making sure diverse stories are told. That’s one of the reasons she’s proud of her work as the dementia-stricken matriarch in the Oscar-winning “American Fiction.”
The film stars Jeffrey Wright as an author who finds success when he writes a book filled with racist tropes. Uggams said the movie is special in “that you saw family in a different kind of way.”
“They own two homes, but it doesn’t matter because we all have our problems and you got to see that side of it,” she said, adding that trying to get stories like the one seen in “American Fiction” out there “is not easy, as Jeffrey told everybody. So I wanna see more of that, then I’ll be happy.”
So can she share any fun stories about what happened on set filming “Deadpool & Wolverine” with Reynolds and Hugh Jackman?
“Unfortunately, no, because there’s always some good ones,” Uggams said, smiling. “But my lips are taped.”
