Filipino vlogger Cong TV had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, who currently stars in “Deadpool & Wolverine” in Seoul, South Korea. But it was not your typical interview, as the YouTuber brought his comedic skills to the hilt that even the Hollywood actors themselves couldn’t help but break into fits of laughter.
Cong, whose real name is Lincoln Cortez Velasquez, conducted the interview with ABS-CBN heartthrob Donny Pangilinan, which he posted on his vlog. But the tension between them was so palpable that it did not escape even their interview subjects.
The interview opened with Jackman and Reynolds ribbing each other as they are wont to do, being real-life best friends. Then came the seemingly serious-looking (nervous?) Cong and Pangilinan who then introduced themselves simultaneously. The two Hollywood A-listers were looking at them in confusion, waiting for the Filipino interviewers to figure out how to proceed with the interview.
“Ako muna magsasalita,” Cong told Pangilinan under his breath, but which probably everyone in the room heard.
“Sabi mo saken eto muna gagawin mo… O di sige kung ano gusto mong gawin, gawin mo na,” Pangilinan said.
“We can hear you,” said Reynolds, as Jackman looked at the two curiously. “Let me just start by saying ‘I’m sorry, for whatever that happened.'”
‘How are you?’
Cong then followed with his killer first question: “How are you?”
“Concerned,” Reynolds replied, looking at him with a touch of… concern, all the while that Cong was seemingly waiting for things to unfold — maybe for the two American actors to suddenly transform into their costumes? “Well, nailed it. Next question?”
Pangilinan. who was holding his laughter in, then interjected, saying they were just “messing” with them. The movie actors then began sighing with relief, with Jackman saying he was sweating the interview might have taken a bad route.
But Cong was sticking to his guns. “No we’re not (messing with you).”
READ: LOOK: Donny Pangilinan meets Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds
Why Deadpool and Wolverine fight a lot
As Pangilinan tried to get the interview rolling, he began by saying they have amazing questions to ask.
Cong then started reading his cue card with a straight face. “In the trailer, you fight a lot. Why?”
“I knew this question,” Reynolds said.
“It’s a love language,” said Jackman of his friend Reynolds whom he could always be seen dissing on social media.
“It is kind of a love language, right? It’s how we express ourselves,” said Reynolds as he tried to stay in his usual aura, while Jackman was seen releasing a little laughter then and there.
How to not be a terrible father
“I recently just got married, and me, myself, I have a two-year-old son,” Cong said, but Jackman told him, “You did? You look very happy, Cong.”
“I heard from you that you are a terrible father,” Cong then asked Reynolds. “Any advice so I don’t end up like you?” he said, referencing what he said during a press conference earlier that his daughter’s best friend in New York is from Seoul, but he did not bring them with him during the tour because he was a “cruel, heartless and a terrible father.”
Reynolds and Jackman were in utter disbelief. “Wow,” said the Wolverine actor, amazed by Cong’s audacity. “‘Michelle, contain your client,” Reynolds called the staff in mock anger. In a more serious tone, he said: “I think you just want to value and prize external accomplishments instead of bringing them home for yourself. Just try to stay away as much as possible, you know,” advised Reynolds.
“People make the mistake of being a good parent at the beginning, but if you’re going to improve, if the expectations of the kid are so low,” added Jackman, with his co-actor agreeing.
Who heals faster
Cong and Pangilinan then asked the Hollywood stars to play the game called “Who’s Most Likely To?” The former was then seen pulling out from his back pocket a pair of paddles before sniffing them and wiping them on his shirt, before handing them over to the Deadpool & Wolverine actors, who were looking askance at the props.
“Where did you pull… Oh right, cool,” said Jackman.
“Wow, that came out right under the old keister, okay,” Reynolds said.
The two were then asked by Pangilinan who’s most likely to heal faster, pertaining to their characters in the film. The two actors whose characters just happened to have the uncanny ability to heal faster than regular human beings or mutants, conceded the other to be more.
But Cong, still with his poker face, said, “No, we mean from heartbreaks.”
“Oh,” said the Hollywood actors in chorus. “Those scars last,” added Reynolds. He pointed again on Wolverine’s image on his paddle, saying, “I didn’t have a heart.”
‘Despicable son of a bi—’
Reynolds and Jackman were then asked by Pangilinan who’s most likely to lead the Avengers and beat Thanos, in a parallel Marvel universe, a question that both actors have no ready answer to.
Before both of them could reply, Cong spoke with his usual blank face, “I know someone. Manny Pacquiao.”
“Oh, Manny Pacquiao, he’s a slugger,” said Reynolds.
“And last question before you can go back to your family,” said Cong. But Reynolds was done holding it in and had to ask him, “When you smile, does it make a cracking sound?”
Cong tried to hide a smile but Jackman saw him. “Oh, I saw that! Watch that, reply that!”
“I saw joy in your eyes!” said Reynolds after finally being able to draw out a shadow of a smile from Cong’s inscrutable demeanor. “Despicable son of a bi—! Oh, there’s his dimples, too.”
But Cong was all professional and cut off their banter with his last question. “Which is most likely to take a better Gen Z selfie between you two? Are you familiar with a Gen Z selfie?”
Reynolds said he’s not familiar with such and Cong proceeded to demonstrate how it’s done. Reynolds ended up being the one to hit the right button.