What Colossus From Marvel's Deadpool Looks Like In Real Life
Ryan Reynolds introduced audiences to a whole new world of Marvel shenanigans with 2016's "Deadpool," an "X-Men" spin-off that proved to be a critical and commercial juggernaut, grossing over $780 million at the worldwide box office. What makes that number all the more special is how the film was shot on a sub-$60 million budget, which meant Reynolds and company had to be resourceful in how they depicted the world of the X-Men.
Unfortunately, Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and the rest of the "X-Men" roster don't show up, but it's not like the anti-hero doesn't have help from one of Charles Xavier's most notable heroes. In "Deadpool," the titular character constantly has to deal with the wise words of Colossus, a towering brute with the ability to turn his body into metal. In the film, Colossus is seven and a-half feet tall and is voiced by Serbian actor Stefan Kapicic.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kapicic discussed how he's significantly shorter than Colossus, which meant he couldn't perform the motion capture for the towering character. "[Director] Tim Miller's idea of Colossus was to be bigger and stronger than everyone else, so for the motion capture they needed an extremely tall man," Kapicic revealed. "I'm 6-foot-4, but he wanted Colossus to be over 7 feet, so they used a stunt double to recreate his height, and he did very good job there." The on-set performance capture for Colossus was performed by Andre Tricoteux, who is 6-foot-9. But dig deeper, and you'll find that it took a whole village to bring Colossus to life.
Stefan Kapicic and Colossus look nothing alike
When audiences think of Colossus from "Deadpool," they're probably thinking of Stefan Kapicic. To date, Kapicic has voiced the X-Men character twice, appearing in both cinematic "Deadpool" outings. But when you put Stefan and Colossus side-by-side, it's difficult to see any resemblance between the two because, well, Colossus is made out of metal. Beyond that, as revealed above, there's also the fact that Stefan mostly just provides the iconic X-Men character's voice.
While speaking with Forbes to promote "Deadpool 2," Kapicic candidly discussed how it doesn't matter if he isn't really on screen. "Having a chance and opportunity to portray Colossus, and make this amazing character alive, I just don't come from the perspective of an actor who is maybe looking at himself from maybe an ego, or some need," Kapicic said. "I know that's me, and it's my voice, and I can see myself when I'm watching the movie."
Colossus is one of the most difficult X-Men heroes to breathe life into. For the first "Deadpool," it took a whopping five actors to bring the metal mutant to life. In a video breaking down the film's visual effects, Wired revealed that a motion capture studio session was done in addition to Andre Tricoteux's on-set performance. Colossus' face was modeled after a separate actor, one with a "chiseled jawline." Another performer had to redo all of the dialogue lines, and the facial animations were done by a completely different actor. It's an overwhelming amount of work, but one that proves that bringing a character like Colossus to the silver screen is no small task.
Where you've seen the Colossus actor before
While Stefan Kapicic is most well-known for his "Deadpool" gig, chances are that you've seen (or at least heard) the actor before his superhero debut. A well-known actor in his native Serbia, Kapicic's first significant English-speaking role was in the series "Numb3rs." His part was minimal, but it eventually led to him appearing in an episode of the thriller series "24." From there, he ended up in "Deadpool," a gig that he was absolutely over the moon to nab. Following the success of "Deadpool," Kapicic candidly discovered how playing Colossus allowed him to authentically embrace his roots. "So for me, this role had so many different angles, and I'm so proud, and especially because I'm coming from Eastern Europe," Kapicic discussed with LRM Online. "There's not that many characters that I can play with my accent, or be a part in."
Since getting the "Deadpool" role, Kapicic's stateside CV has exploded. The actor popped up in "Better Call Saul" as Casper, a key member of Werner Ziegler's (Rainer Bock) crew, a role he played in six episodes of the "Breaking Bad" spin-off. In 2023, he showed up in Universal Pictures' horror flick "The Last Voyage of the Demeter." In the film, Kapicic appears as a Demeter crew member who has a brush with the nefarious Dracula. In addition to his Hollywood efforts, Kapicic has lent his talents to the modern batch of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" games, voicing the role of Nikolai.
Colossus is expected to return in "Deadpool 3," making the threequel Kapicic's formal debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.