Taylor Hickson, 18, was born and raised in West Kelowna. She has a speaking role in the new movie Deadpool currently in theatres.
Image Credit: Contributed
February 26, 2016 - 9:00 PM
WEST KELOWNA – An 18-year-old West Kelowna girl got a speaking part in the hit new movie Deadpool without even trying.
Taylor Hickson was born and raised in West Kelowna. She had never heard of the Marvel comicbook hero Deadpool so when her agent, who she only signed on with as a favour to her aunt, sent her to the audition, she didn’t even know what she was trying out for.
“It was under a code name so I went in and did the audition and I didn’t realize it was for Deadpool,” she says. “I wasn’t familiar with the character or the comic so when I told my best friend my scene wasn’t even with Deadpool it’s with some guy named Wade she flipped out and made me watch all the X Men movies.”
Deadpool is a $300 million movie currently in theatres. It is about a former Special Forces operative turned mercenary who is subjected to an experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers.
In Hickson's scene she plays Meghan Orlovsky, a girl who is helped out by the main character played by fellow Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. She says while she is a fan of his, it was her mom who was most excited.
“My mom’s favourite movie is Just Friends,” she says. “She loves him. He was amazing; super funny and his similarity to his character is uncanny. They are the same person.”
This is Hickson’s first film and she realizes how lucky she is to have landed a speaking role in such a popular movie. This is also the first time she has seen herself on a big sceen.
“It was a mix of emotion at first,” she says. “I was excited and freaked out by it, I didn’t know if I liked it at first but I realize now it’s what I want to do.”
That wasn’t always the case however. She only got an agent in the first place as a favour to her aunt who was helping a new agent bulk up his roster. She has some acting experience, but it never occurred to her to try and make a career out of it.
“My mom put me in plays at the Kelowna Actors Studio when I was younger because I wanted attention all the time,” she says. “At Christmas I used to run around the house and get all my family members and make them sit down in the rec room and I performed ballet for them.”
Now she doesn’t have to force anyone to watch her and she finds herself fully booked for the summer. She is currently mid-production of a title role in an upcoming movie being filmed in Vancouver and she has more coming.
“I have another cool project on the table but I’m not allowed to talk about it yet.”
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016