Deadpool and Wolverine – Aydin is appearing in the film!

Aydin was a student at Jigsaw Arts since he was 5 years old right up until he landed a role in the West End as Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda the musical. Back in 2023, he was cast in the new Deadpool film and since worked on the production with famous names such as Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy and Hugh Jackman. Our lead agent, Emily, asked him about his experience.

Tell me a little about the audition process? What did you have to do?

Emily from Jigsaw Arts Management got in touch to say I has been asked to self tape for a movie called ‘Starman’. We had to sign an NDA before I could do the audition, so I suspected it was a fake name for the movie. I had to swear quite a lot in the self tape, which was very funny, especially as my mum was filming me! I then was recalled to audition in person. We went to a house in West London where I met my on-screen dad, Ryan McKen and we had a chat before we got taken upstairs to a holding room with all the other boys who were auditioning. They had snacks and a PS5 and we all played Astros Play room!

I then MET Shawn Levy and he’s my idol, I loved what he did with Stranger Things and Free Guy. I went in and auditioned for the 11 year old character, but it didn’t feel right. I was then asked to learn the 8 year old lines and I only had 10 minutes! I was then called back in with every other boy there, so I went into the audition room 7 times! The last time, they called me in with Nanak, who plays my on-screen brother. We had instant chemistry and it just clicked as we ran the lines. 

How did you feel when you where offered the role?

I was actually at school when my mum and Emily heard that I got the role, I had no idea. When I got home, mum said Emily wanted to call video call me and that’s when she announced to me that I got the role. I honestly couldn’t believe it! I was stunned. It took a while for it to sink in, but I was mainly excited about working with Shawn Levy and being in a Marvel production! Knowing that I was Director’s choice for the role made me feel proud and happy.

What was it like filming?

It was crazy! It almost didn’t feel real! 

Originally, I was meant to be filming for 2 weeks but in the end only filmed for 2 days. I started filming in May 2023, but due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, I didn’t do my second day of filming until the end of January in 2024. On the first day of filming we were at Pinewood studios. My mum was my chaperone and we were collected in a fancy car and taken to my very own trailer. We filmed the internal car scenes in the Honda with Ryan Reynolds in his Wade prosthetics and this really dodgy wig! My character and the family (the Chipmans) were test driving the car in that scene, so we didn’t have any lines but we had to make lots of facial expressions, reacting to what Ryan was saying. It was a long day but I loved every minute of it, especially getting photographed in the 360 cgi 3D model rig. This is where they took hundreds of pictures of me on hundreds of cameras simultaneously, so they could convert that to a 3D render in case they needed to use any CGI on me. 

On the 2nd day of shooting, it was wrap day for the whole film which means it was the final day of filming on the entire production. We were at a different location, Bovington Air Field where they shot 1917. When I arrived I had to have my first ever shave, because so much time had passed and I was getting older! The food on set was amazing! There was a churros truck with churros the size of my head! The thing that blew me away was the size of the sets. They are HUGE! They had the blue screens on cranes because they were so huge. It took about 10 minutes just to move all the cranes to a new position. Hugh Jackman was on set and we had a few cool moments after each take, where he asked if he could try out different reactions to my line. It was so cool! 

The hardest part of day 2 was that it was absolutely freezing!  We had to have hand warmers in our pockets, thermals underneath our clothes and huge parkas on in between shots. At the end of the day, Shawn gave a big speech and everyone on set was clapping and cheering- it was really special to be a part of that. I managed to get photos taken with Shawn Levy, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, as well as my on screen Chipman family. It was a brilliant day!

Have you seen the movie yet?

I had hoped they were going to have a UK premiere, but they decided to only have one in America. However, on Wednesday the 24th of July, I was invited to the cast and crew viewing in West London along with my family and Emily my agent. I thought the film was absolutely incredible. The fight choreography was insane and the music choices were great. The opening scene Deadpool was hilarious and had me on the edge of my seat. When I saw myself on a massive screen, it was completely surreal. Go and see it, it’s amazing!

Jigsaw Arts Management (JAM) is a creative arts agency, representing children and young performers from Jigsaw Performing Arts Schools. JAM was established in 2001 to support children who attend Jigsaw classes to offer them the chance to gain professional work. Over the years, JAM has built strong links within the TV, Film, Advertising and Theatre industry.

To find out more about the agency, send Emily an email to ag****@ji*********.uk.