Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming on Disney+. The blockbuster, of course, stars returning cast members from the previous movies, including Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax and Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper voicing, respectively, Groot and Rocket.
Some newcomers also joined the universe this time around. How they got there, however, is up for debate.
Chukwudi Iwuji worked with writer-director James Gunn on his hit Peacemaker before he got the tap to play the cruel High Evolutionary in GOTG 3. Iwuji explained at a press event before the Hollywood strikes that booking the job wasn’t so cut and dried.
“We just finished filming…the dance sequence of Peacemaker. And James said, ‘Can I have a word with you?’…And I actually said to him, ‘Is this when you thought you were hiring Chiwetel Ejiofor?” the actor joked, referring to another Marvel actor of Nigerian descent.
He insists he had to wait five weeks before they shot a screen test, but Gunn maintains he’d already given him the job. “But I’m a jobbing actor, the closest I’ve come to Marvel is my local IMAX,” Iwuji said to laughs. “I was not going to believe that I had the job, especially since we still had to do a screen test.”
Maria Bakalova voiced Cosmo the Spacedog in the movie. She said she was “even more” excited about joining the MCU when she found out she’d be getting the chance to play a dog. That happened when she got the call that she was given the role.
“Is that how you remember it?” Iwuji joked, cracking up his castmates.
“Oh, I’m never gonna hear the end of it,” Gunn replied.
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