EJ Moreno with six insane details from The Suicide Squad press conference…
In one of the most hilarious press conferences ever, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad press tour is unlike anything else. The cast and crew of the film came together via Zoom for a wonderful chat to promote the movie.
During the press conference, we got an insight into the making of The Suicide Squad, hilarious stories from the actors, and even a little scandalous moment regarding John Cena’s package. Yes, it was a must-see event.
Below are the 7 biggest highlights after the presser:
7. The cast and crew is one giant family
It’s no surprise that making a film like The Suicide Squad would be fun, but the way the players speak about it, you’d want to join. From late-night parties to on-set shenanigans, the cast and crew only spoke highly of the experience. One of the stars, Alice Braga, says they’re “a beautiful dysfunctional family. Everyone was having a great time but also doing all the work.”
“I love each of these guys and gals as people very, very honestly. As a director, what I really loved about them was they were incredibly good and incredibly professional on set,” says director James Gunn.
6. Pete Davidson claims his character Blackguard has the worst powers
Before diving into a hilarious rant about Cena, Pete Davidson was asked which of the heroes in the film had the worst powers. His answer didn’t shock anyone on the call.
“I don’t have any powers at all; I just have guns that are strapped to my chest. But I had a great time, and they were very kind about allowing me to hold the guns!”
5. Margot Robbie loves this new Harley Quinn
Getting to play Harley Quinn for the third time was an excellent experience for actress Margot Robbie. During the press conference, she praised this new take on the character in The Suicide Squad.
“I loved getting to play Harley, who was in the mindset of Single and ready to mingle. I hadn’t played that version of Harley before; she has always been very committed to Mr. J or fresh out of the break-up with Mr. J. James put in a lot of very funny potential love interests throughout the film, It didn’t always end well, obviously, but that was fun but also to play a Harley who was kind of in mission mode, says Robbie.
She adds, “Any time she is in a new group there is always something fun and new to do because she reacts differently based on who the teammates are.”
4. Gunn says the beach set was one of the biggest builds at Pinewood
Earlier in the year, director James Gunn touted the film’s impressive practical effects – which are on display throughout the film. But one of the most amazing physical things crafted for the film was one of its sets. Yes, the beach scene that kicks off The Suicide Squad was all built for the film, and Gunn says it’s one of the biggest ever at the studio.
“A lot of people don’t know, we made that beach, that is on the backlot of Pinewood, It’s one of the biggest sets ever made, and it is an entire beachfront with an ocean that has working waves created by Dan Sudick, our special effects guy, then the beach leads into a forest which we also shoot in as a forest. We had this humongous beach that we created, so we had full control over. When you were there, you felt like you were on the beach, so in between set-ups, we were out there hanging out, not quite drinking Margaritas, but it was great.”
3. Idris on what makes Bloodsport unique
Idris Elba, one of the stars of The Suicide Squad, spoke about his character Bloodsport. While a joke in the film talks about there being too many marksmen, Elba still wanted to be this character interesting. One of the angles Elba and the director cooked up was approaching him as a slightly aged baddie.
“James and I spoke about the legacy of DuBois and how old we might play him,” recalls Elba. “He’s been in jail for a while; he’s not as fit as he used to be. This guy was a little heavier and a little rusty.”
Elba also added to the conversation saying his rivalry with Cena’s Peacemaker was also a highlight for playing Bloodsport.
“When you read the script, you see the natural rivalry between John [Cena] and I and James and who team really just gravitated to this dick swinging competition that was just a lot of fun. For us, it was really great fun, and James would really egg us on to make Peacemaker and Bloodsport really pop on screen. I loved every minute of it.”
2. The John Cena bulge conversations
In what started as a joke from Pete Davidson, the conversation of a John Cena scene that features the actor in his underwear became a running gag throughout the press conference.
Pete Davidson started it with a now-infamous: “Bro, bro, your dick is huge… You have a huge piece, dude!”
Gunn went on to add, “John asked me to use a large penis filter on the camera at all times.”
Later on, Davidson returned with more to his story. “I saw a screening with 20 people, and the first thing everybody said after the movie besides it was great, was like Yo, Cena’s dick is crazy. All my uncles that seriously love wrestling were like, Yo, I didn’t know Cena was packing like that.”
Cena wrapped up this long-running joke with a thank you to the director: “James, thank you for the filter, I appreciate that. My demands were to keep the costume, and I wanted him to use a filter on my dick, and he did both.”
1. The cast wants another round of Task Force X action!
Finally, when asked by the moderator, “if James is the Amanda Waller, he came to you and asked you to go on another mission,” the cast all answered with resounding YES!
EJ Moreno
Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.
The Suicide Squad sees James Gunn directing a cast that includes Suicide Squad returnees Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) as well as new DCEU additions Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Taika Waititi, Jennifer Holland, David Dastmalchian, Joaquín Cosío, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, John Cena, Pete Davidson, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Julio Ruiz, Steve Agee, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, and Sylvester Stallone.
