Brianna Hildebrand opens up about portraying a LGBTQ character (and couple) in DEADPOOL 2.

Rising star Brianna Hildebrand returns as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in DEADPOOL 2 and this time the character being joined by girlfriend Yukio, portrayed by actress Shioli Kutsuna.

When speaking with Playboy, Hildebrand revealed that she was “surprised” but elated by the development, saying “I was surprised when I was pitched it, but Ryan [Reynolds] just sent me an email and was like, ‘How would you feel about this?’ And so that’s great—I’m glad he asked me how I would feel about it. Obviously, I was like, ‘I feel amazing about it. Let’s do it!’ I am glad that he asked me, though. I probably would have been like, ‘Wow.'”

Negasonic and Yukio mark the first-ever LGBTQ couple in a mainstream superhero film.

Out and proud herself, Hildebrand talked about being gay in Hollywood and how the environment is for actors who make the choice to remain open about their preferences.

“I remember going to a few different publicists and that being on the forefront of their mind, like ‘How would you like to go about this? We can keep this under wraps, if that’s what you would like.’ It just kind of surprised me a little bit because I was like, ‘I didn’t suggest that.’ I’m totally fine with who I am. I know that that’s how Hollywood used to work. But they didn’t really know me—maybe they thought I was [private]. I’d rather just be like, ‘This is what it is.’”

Even though she plays an angsty teenager on film, Hildebrand says it’s not who she is in real life…at least at this point in her life. “People at conventions will come up to me and be like, ‘Wow, you’re so nice,’” she laughs. “Genuinely surprised that I’m a nice person.”

“I definitely now get offered a lot of the angsty teen roles—angsty, angry-at-the-world teen roles—which I’m not necessarily upset about. I think it’s fun—I used to be really angsty as a teenager, and now as an adult, I’m a little less angsty. It’s kind of fun to re-explore that side of me.”

On returning to play Negasonic once more, she was “surprised that [original director] Tim [Miller] didn’t return. She thought the pressure of living up to the first film “might have been a factor” is him leaving. She actually found out about his departure from a fellow cast member. “I was at a convention, and [Colossus actor] Stefan [Kapicic] was like, ‘Did you hear?’” She says Miller is a “cool guy” but noticed that “there was definitely a vibe there” between new director David Leitch and Reynolds.

There’s no word if Hildebrand will return for X-FORCE, a spin-off film from writer/director Drew Goddard that was teased at the end of DP2. Negasonic declined to join the group at the end, so we’ll have to wait and see if she changes her mind on that. “I’m totally for a spinoff, if that’s a thing.”

Deadpool 2 is now in theaters.

Source: Playboy