Leslie Uggams Landed ‘Deadpool’ Role After Director Heard Her Drop an F-Bomb: ‘I Love the Way You Said That’ | Exclusive Video

Leslie Uggams says she locked in her role as Blind Al in the “Deadpool” franchise after the first film’s director Tim Miller heard the way she said f—k.

The conversation about how she ended up playing the potty-mouthed elder came up during her appearance on Tamron Hall’s daytime talk show “The Tamron Hall Show,” which airs on Monday. At the time, Hall was inquiring about how Uggams landed the character.

“There I am getting ready to watch ‘Deadpool’ like everybody else, going to the movie theaters, and your character Blind Al pops up, and I know it’s a character, but she curses and she’s got a gun — I mean, a gun-packin’, foul-mouthed granny. I’m talkin’ gangsta granny,” Hall exclaimed. “When you read — how did this happen?”

“It is so wild. They sent me a script that made no sense whatsoever. And so I said, ‘OK,’ and I just kind of did the thing and I thought, ‘What is this?!'” Uggams explained, mentioning that there was no cursing in the first two scripts the production sent her originally.

“Not the first one,” Uggams said. “Well, when I was able to do the second time, there still wasn’t anything. Then, they liked me and they said, ‘We think you have the part but we want to now meet with the director.’ I’m talking with the director and he happened to ask me a question and the f-word came out of my mouth. What can I say? And he turned me and he said, ‘I loved the way you said that!’ And I got the role.”

After the crowd finished their their laughter and applause, Hall asked if Uggams now ad-libs her own curse words, but the actress said she often gets requests from the film’s star Ryan Reynolds, who often does his own improvisations of the script.

“[Reynolds] always comes up to me and he’ll say, ‘Leslie, do you mind saying such and such and such,'” and I go, ‘Let’s go for it!'”

Aside from starring in the film’s third sequel, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the Tony and Emmy-winning actress is booked and busy with other projects like her role in Off-Broadway’s “Jelly’s Last Jam.” She said the musical might block her from being able to attend the Oscars.

“By the time we finish I have to get ready because I have to be at 54 Below for three days doing my act, so I don’t even know if I have time to get out there.

“So she’s so booked and busy, at the beautiful age of 80, you may not make it to the Oscars?” Hall asked.

“Hello!” Uggams said with a smile.

“Deadpool 3” hits theaters July 26. “Jelly’s Last Jame” starts its showings on Feb. 21. This episode of “Tamron Hall” airs on Monday, Feb. 19.

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