Hollywood history is littered with incidents of happenstance and coincidence, and you can draw a line directly from Wesley Snipes’ Blade in 1998 to Adria Arjona being cast as Martine Bancroft in Morbius over two decades later, with Ryan Reynolds lending an assist along the way.
Once upon a time, the debut of Snipes’ Daywalker was set to end with a sequel tease featuring fellow Marvel Comics vampire Michael Morbius, which was ultimately abandoned. Instead, Reynolds ended up boarding threequel Trinity alongside Jessica Biel as the Nightstalkers, who were in line for their own spinoff before the end product tanked.
The Deadpool star eventually worked with director Daniel Espinosa on action thriller Safe House and sci-fi horror Life, before collaborating with Arjona on Michael Bay’s Netflix blockbuster 6 Underground, with the actress revealing to The Hollywood Reporter that it was Reynolds who provided Espinosa with a glowing recommendation.
“I went for a coffee with Daniel Espinosa, and he flat out told me I was too young for the role. So I really had to persuade him to give me a shot, and he was like, “Okay, fine. I’ll read you. Of course.” And then he read me. There’s a maturity to Martine and an intelligence in the way that she carries herself. It’s very different than the way that I carry myself.
Right now, I’m sitting down. My foot is on my stool, and I tend to slouch a little bit more. So I think that’s what he originally saw and was like, “This isn’t her.” But I auditioned and he gave me the role two days later. Then I found out that he called Ryan Reynolds and asked him, “Is she nice? Is she good to work with?” And Ryan sent a lovely message. So I have Ryan to thank, in a way, for this role and for putting the good word out there for me.”
Based on the overwhelmingly negative reviews and ironic sense of appreciation for Morbius that’s sweeping the internet, Arjona may yet end up regretting Reynolds putting a good word in if the supernatural superhero blockbuster doesn’t get a sequel.