WARNING: Spoilers ahead for “Ghosted” on Apple TV+
“Ghosted” has arrived on Apple TV+, and with it come a few surprise visitors, in the form of some hilarious cameos. And, according to director Dexter Fletcher, at least one of those was a form of payback.
The movie follows Cole (Chris Evans) after he goes on the best date of his life with Sadie (Ana de Armas). Despite her not wanting anything serious, Cole believes this could be real. So, in what he believes to be a grand romantic gesture (but is actually erring dangerously close to stalking), he tracks her to London and attempts to surprise her.
The thing is, she’s a spy, and one that a lot of people want dead. Eventually, that results in a bounty being put on both their heads, and all of a sudden, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan and John Cho all show up onscreen — each one of them killing the last. So, how exactly did this all come together?
“Well, look, Chris has a very interesting phone book,” director Dexter Fletcher told TheWrap with a laugh. “And there was suggestions in the script about, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be great if such and such a person played this part?’ And we took that and really ran with it. I mean, I was very keen that that section of the film still did what it needs to do dramatically and comedically.”
According to Fletcher, he was the one who got Cho onboard, while Evans called up Mackie and Stan. But they aren’t the only surprise faces that show up.
At the end of the film, we meet another ex of Sadie’s, played by none other than Ryan Reynolds (in an eyepatch). And yes, that was payback for Evans making a cameo in Reynolds’ 2021 film “Free Guy” on short notice.
“Ryan told me that Chris turned up on very short notice on ‘Free Guy,’ it was just a phone call,” Fletcher explained. “And he said that they didn’t really know each other well, but he needed him, and he just phoned up and went, ‘Hey, [can] you do it?’ He came the next day, and did that.”
He continued: “I think that kind of goodwill carries, you know? And so, Ryan flew in, wrote that scene, after a little bit of discussion with me about about previous ex-boyfriends of Sadie’s. And we put an eyepatch on him and played around.”
Fletcher added that, more often than not, an actor is willing to help when and where they can, if asked.
“The great thing about stuff like that is that, you know, people like getting involved, and everyone knows we’re all trying to do our best,” he said. “Making a good film is hard, and everyone knows that, when you sit and watch a film that doesn’t work for whatever reasons, it’s not for want of trying. It’s not for lack of effort. It’s hard, and a lot of things have to come together. So everyone does their best to be helpful to the cause.”
“Ghosted” is now streaming on Apple TV+.
