Before Peacemaker revealed Vigilante’s secret identity to be sadistic busboy and born killer Adrian Chase (Freddie Stroma), there was a different actor under the mask. In the first season of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad spinoff, the costumed maniac tagged along with “best friend” and contract killer Christopher Smith (John Cena), whose 11th Street Kids — Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), and John Economos (Steve Agee) — saved the world from an alien invasion as part of Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) Project Butterfly.
But the series originally cast actor Chris Conrad (Patriot), who filmed half of the eight-episode first season in the Vigilante suit before being replaced with Stroma. On episode 2 of Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn, the showrunner and series creator explained why he decided to recast the role midway through filming season 1.
“We had shot all of episodes 1 through 5, and we had also shot part of 8. And then we were like, for various reasons, ‘We need to recast the actor,’” Gunn said. “I was having anxiety at night because I was like, ‘I love this show more than anything I’ve ever done before.’ And one particular part of it wasn’t working as well as it could, and it happened to be everyone’s favorite character in the script.”
Peacemaker filmed its first season during the COVID in early 2021, which meant a new actor would be required to quarantine for two-weeks before joining the Vancouver-based production. “We went out and we had to find a Vigilante, and we had to find them quickly,” Gunn said. Because half of the episodes had already been shot with the mostly-masked Vigilante in costume, the new actor needed to fit the suit tailored to Conrad’s physique.
“We had to find someone who was a certain height to fit into the suit, and it was very difficult,” he continued. “We actually had to cast around the suit because we didn’t have time to make a new suit.”
“Through a lot of these episodes in season 1 when you see an actor with the full suit and helmet on, it’s oftentimes the original actor,” added Holland, who co-hosts the rewatch podcast with Agee and Gunn. “[Stroma’s voice] is dubbed over the other actor.”
While the original actor goes unnamed, it was reported in 2021 that Conrad “amicably” exited Peacemaker “due to creative differences.”
Peacemaker season 2 — starring returning series regulars John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick alongside new cast members Frank Grillo, David Denman, Sol Rodriguez, and Tim Meadows — premieres August 21 on HBO Max.
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