Peacemaker: Freddie Stroma kept a secret from the cast, here’s what it was

In the DC series Peacemaker, Freddie Stroma plays the role of Adrian Chase, also known as Vigilante, the enthusiastic partner-in-crime of the titular character played by John Cena. What many fans of the HBO Max series did not know about the actor is that he is British. He hid this fact from the cast until filming was over.

Creator James Gunn had taken to Twitter a few years ago to share Freddie’s ability to switch accents and how it left even John Cena surprised. He wrote,

“Fun fact: @freddiestroma spoke in an American accent the whole time he was shooting & hanging with us, for months. @JohnCena nearly fell over when we wrapped & he had a British accent.”

Freddie Stroma as Vigilante in Peacemaker

In the HBO Max series, Adrian Chase, also known as Vigilante, is the best friend of Christopher Smith, also known as Peacemaker, portrayed by John Cena. The friendship between the two antiheroes is one of the key storylines in the series. Vigilante quickly became a fan favorite, with Freddie’s performance getting much acclaim from critics as well.

The role was originally portrayed by actor Chris Conrad. Gunn recast the role after shooting five episodes of Season 1. While speaking to Screen Rant about Freddie taking over the coveted role, Gunn shared,

“Yeah. He (Stroma) came in late. We had already shot five-and-a-half episodes with another actor, who's an incredibly talented guy, but we were on different pages about certain things, and I don't think he wanted to continue on the series in the long run. So we brought Freddie in, five-and-a-half episodes in, and I reshot all of his scenes…”

Freddie Stroma had previously portrayed the role of Cormac McLaggen in the Harry Potter movie franchise and Luke in Pitch Perfect. To play the role in the DC series, Freddie decided to keep the American accent even between takes to ensure a smooth shooting process.

Actor Steve Agee, who portrays the role of techie John Economos, spoke about his fellow actor’s effortless accent transition. As per The Hollywood Reporter, he said,

“So they brought in Freddie, and the way they explained it to us was: “You’re not going to have to be here another few months to reshoot this. We can literally just shoot his coverage and insert it.” A lot of the Vigilante footage already had him wearing his mask, so all they had to do was just re-voice it.…Freddie came in and killed it. He’s British unbeknownst to a lot of people on the cast and crew at the time. He was worried about keeping his accent, so he just stayed American (off camera).”

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Freddie shared that to prepare for his role in Peacemaker, he even read the comics. But after he read the script for the series, he realized that the character is a lot different. He said,

“…When I auditioned for it and booked it, I started reading up on the Vigilante comics. And then I got the script, and very, very quickly realized that they’re not the same character at all. (In the comics), he’s level headed. He’s a very standard guy. Literally, his name is Vigilante. He’s a (district attorney) and he fights crime. It’s a pretty straightforward character. And then the one in Peacemaker is just basically James’s creation. So it was that way on the page.”

Watch Peacemaker on HBO Max

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