Why Rob Delaney Was Never The Same After Deadpool 2
Some celebrities in Hollywood prefer to keep their politics to themselves while others are loud and outspoken, whether it’s the progressive politics of Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo, and Danny Glover or the vocally right-wing Clint Eastwood, Jon Voight, and Jim Caviezel. “Deadpool 2” star Rob Delaney wears his politics on his sleeve, and since he became a star its become even more important to him that he used his platform to promote the causes he cares about. As a U.K. resident, that often means supporting the country’s social democrat Labour Party, even campaigning on behalf of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Some of his support for the left-wing political party is the result of dealing with his young son’s cancer diagnosis. Having grown up in the United States, he’d seen firsthand the stark differences between American and U.K. healthcare. “What was amazing about having a child get very sick here, and then sicker, and then disabled, and then ultimately die, is that as nightmarish as that was and still is, it didn’t bankrupt us,” he told Esquire. “Nor did we have the fear while he was sick that it would, which so many Americans have.”
Delaney has also used his larger platform and name recognition — thanks to “Deadpool 2” — to advocate for reform in the film industry. In 2023, he was a vocal ally of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in Hollywood and helped rally support a half a world away in England, penning an op-ed for Jacobin and speaking at public events.