Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman had to jump through some high-stakes hoops to get permission to use Madonna’s 1989 hit “Like A Prayer” in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In an interview with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM on Friday, July 19, the superhero duo revealed that they, along with director Shawn Levy, visited Madonna, 65, to ask her for permission to license the song.
“It did involve a personal visit to Madonna, where we showed Madonna the sequence where ‘Like a Prayer’ would be used,” Levy, 55, explained.
“Also, let’s preface it with the fact that they don’t license — that Madonna doesn’t just license the song, particularly that song,” Reynolds, 47, added.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
“It was a big deal to ask for it and certainly a bigger deal to use it,” the Deadpool actor continued. “We went over and met with her and and sort of showed her how it was being used, and where, and why.
Levy added that it felt like the production team was “meeting royalty,” before Reynolds jokingly said that he asked one of the members of Madonna’s team how to address her when meeting her.
“Like am I allowed to just say, ‘Madonna?’ ” he recalled. “Like, ‘Hello Madonna, I’m Ryan.’ ”
Reynolds also said that not only did Madonna agree to let them use the track (and it helped that her son was a fan of the first two Deadpool films), she also offered them notes on the scene where it would be used.
“She gave a great note,” Reynolds said. “She watched it, and I’m not kidding, [she said], ‘You need to do this.’ And damn it, if she wasn’t like spot on.”
“We literally went into a new recording session within 48 hours to do this note. … It made the sequence better,” Levy added.
Deadpool & Wolverine also stars Jackman, 55, reprising his role as Wolverine. He last played the character in Logan in 2017, a year before the last installment of Deadpool — Deadpool 2 — was released.
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Deadpool & Wolverine, which arrives in theaters on July 26, follows the two characters as they team up for a new mission.
In May, Reynolds spoke to PEOPLE about the moment he first met Jackman on set in 2008, just before he filmed his debut scene as the antihero character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
“I was blown away. And I was nervous as hell. I was walking through the trailers, jetlagged, disoriented, feeling really green and kind of out of my depth, and there was no script to look at,” Reynolds said to Jackman. “It was just like, ‘What’s going to happen?’ ”
“And I heard my name, ‘Ryan!’ in between these trailers as I was walking. And it was you,” Reynolds recalled. “Just the fact that you knew my name meant so much to me. And you came over, you gave me a big hug and you said, ‘Welcome aboard.’ “
