Who Is Stefan Kapičić

Stefan Kapičić is a Serbian actor, born on 1 December 1978 in Cologne, then part of West Germany. Audiences around the world know him as Colossus, the steel-skinned mutant from the Deadpool films: Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). Before reaching Hollywood, he built a career in Serbia and Croatia, where the series Obični ljudi and Larin izbor made him famous.

He is the son of basketball player Dragan Kapičić and actress Slobodanka “Beba” Žugić, and the grandson of Jovo Kapičić, a Yugoslav general and national hero. He studied acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, and since 2007 he has increasingly worked in the United States.

Besides Colossus, audiences remember him as Casper in Better Call Saul, for his role in Counterpart, and as the voice of Nikolai in the Call of Duty games. The text below follows his path from childhood and basketball courts to major film sets.

Early Life and Childhood

Stefan Kapičić was born in Cologne because his father, Yugoslav basketball player Dragan Kapičić, was playing for the local club Saturn Köln at the time. His mother, Slobodanka “Beba” Žugić, is a Montenegrin actress. When Stefan was three years old, the family returned to SFR Yugoslavia, and he grew up in Belgrade.

According to film databases, his father was a world and European champion. His sporting career later became the material for the film Bićemo prvaci sveta (We Will Be World Champions), about the Yugoslav national team that won the 1970 FIBA World Championship.

His paternal grandfather, Jovo Kapičić, a diplomat and national hero of Yugoslavia, had a major influence on the boy. When Stefan was six, his grandfather bought him his first comic book. In a 2015 interview, the actor described it as the beginning of his lasting love for comics.

According to Serbian media, he trained basketball for ten years and was captain of the Red Star junior team. In doing so he followed in his father’s footsteps, until he chose his mother’s path instead.

Growing up in a multilingual family also shaped his language skills. Today he speaks Serbian, English, German and Russian, which later helped him considerably in his international career.

Education

Stefan Kapičić graduated from the Third Belgrade Gymnasium. After secondary school he enrolled in a degree he did not complete, but sources differ on which one it was: some cite philosophy, others general literature at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade.

His mother then persuaded him to try acting as well. He enrolled at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, in the class of Professor Gordana Marić. When he made his first feature film in 2003, he was still a student.

The Faculty of Dramatic Arts, part of the University of Arts in Belgrade, remains the only confirmed acting school he attended. He reached the stage even before graduating, in productions at Belgrade theaters.

Early Career

Stefan Kapičić began his professional career in 2002. That year he appeared in the series Podijum and in the film Kordon, which deals with the protests during the Milošević regime.

His first major film role came in 2003 in the comedy Skoro sasvim obična priča (Almost Totally Ordinary Story), in which he played Bane. The film was directed by Miloš Petričić, written by Dušan Ristić and produced by Predrag Maksimović and Goran Bjelogrlić. Kapičić acted alongside Vuk Tošković, Milica Zarić and Hristina Popović. For this role he received the Best Debutant award at the Film Encounters festival in Niš.

The same year he appeared in the short film Citravita, playing a policeman in a Batman T-shirt. In 2004 he acted in Slobodan pad, Ulični hodač and O štetnosti duvana.

At the same time, he was building his theater career. He performed in the plays Hasanaginica and Zeko, zeko, directed by Jagoš Marković, as well as in Shylock, directed by Muci Draškić. This gave him early experience that later served him well in front of the camera.

In 2006 he appeared in the film Ne skreći sa staze, playing an unusual role: a gay Santa Claus. That role showed that he does not choose only conventional heroes, and readily accepts unusual characters.

Rise to Fame

Obični ljudi and His First Big Television Success

Stefan Kapičić became known to a wider regional audience thanks to the Croatian telenovela Obični ljudi. In the series, broadcast in 2006 and 2007, he played Igor Nikolić, and his character appeared in as many as 111 episodes.

This role strengthened his reputation in Serbia and Croatia. It showed that a Serbian actor could win over the Croatian market too, which he would repeat in later projects.

First Steps in America

According to Serbian media, Kapičić decided in 2007 to try his luck in a bigger market and face American competition. By 2008 he had appeared in the American series The Unit and Numb3rs. In The Unit he acted alongside Dennis Haysbert, Max Martini and Michael Irby, and in Numb3rs alongside Navi Rawat and Peter MacNicol.

The same year he acted in the film The Brothers Bloom, as a German bar owner, and in the domestic film Čarlston za Ognjenku (Charleston for Ognjenka) he played Arsa, “the king of the Charleston”. He also made a guest appearance in the series Vratiće se rode.

In 2010 he landed a role in the eighth season of 24, where he appeared on screen with Kiefer Sutherland. The following year he appeared in The Event as Dimitri Jelavich, alongside Ian Anthony Dale, Bill Smitrovich, Željko Ivanek and Ned Vaughn.

Larin izbor and Zora dubrovačka

He kept returning from American sets to regional projects. In the Croatian series Larin izbor, broadcast from 2011 to 2013, he played Nikša Ivanov in 251 episodes. Nikša is Lara’s husband, a man burdened by a dangerous past who, after the Foreign Legion, returns and settles in Split with an old friend. He reprised the role in 2012 in the film Larin izbor: Izgubljeni princ.

That same year he appeared in the American-British drama Big Miracle as Yuri. In 2013 he acted in the film Hitac (One Shot), and then in the series Stella as a guest.

From 2013 to 2014 he played Rocco Sorgo in the series Zora dubrovačka, in 48 episodes. On the set of that series he also met his future wife, actress Ivana Horvat. In 2015 he also acted in the series Andrija i Anđelka, in the role of Tonči.

Playing His Own Father in Bićemo prvaci sveta

In 2015, Kapičić played one of his most personal roles. In the film Bićemo prvaci sveta he portrayed his own father, Dragan Kapičić, in the story of the Yugoslav basketball players who became world champions in 1970.

He reprised the role in the 2016 television series Prvaci sveta. By 2015, according to available sources, he had more than eighty roles in television, film and theater.

Playing Colossus in Deadpool

The Secret Audition and Winning the Role

Stefan Kapičić’s career took a decisive turn when he went through a secret casting process for the character of Colossus in the film Deadpool. He did not even know which film it was for until the second round, and learned it only after passing that stage.

He was directed by Tim Miller, then a first-time feature director. At the third audition in Los Angeles, Kapičić recorded 120 takes, so the session ran eight hours longer than the planned four. Right afterward he flew back to Dubrovnik, where he was performing in Romeo and Juliet.

He described himself as a big comic book fan, and counted Deadpool among his favorite characters. That is why he was especially happy when he won the role, which had previously been played in the X-Men films by Daniel Cudmore. Miller wanted his Colossus, who is Russian in the comics, to speak with a Russian accent, and Kapičić was the right choice.

How Colossus Was Created

Kapičić is 193 centimeters tall, while the film’s Colossus stands about seven and a half feet. That is why Colossus was created through a combination of digital animation, voice and facial performance. The actor said that he and Miller spent a long time searching for the right vocal range, and that all the facial expressions in the film came from his performance.

Filming wrapped in mid-December 2015, eight weeks before the premiere on 12 February 2016. The actor’s identity was revealed to the public by Entertainment Weekly on 22 December 2015.

In the film he acted alongside Ryan Reynolds, who plays the title hero, and Brianna Hildebrand. In the story, Colossus is a serious and exemplary X-Man, so his tone differs sharply from Deadpool’s crude humor. That contrast contributed to the character’s popularity.

In interviews, Kapičić said that the reaction of Rob Liefeld, the creator of Deadpool, was very positive. He also expressed gratitude to Miller and Reynolds for giving him the opportunity.

Sequels and the Return in Deadpool & Wolverine

He played Colossus again in the 2018 sequel Deadpool 2. That same year he appeared at San Diego Comic-Con, where the photograph that accompanies him in encyclopedia articles today was taken.

In 2024 he returned in Deadpool & Wolverine. As a result, the character he brought to life in the first film has remained part of the franchise for an entire decade.

Greatest Achievements

Better Call Saul

After Deadpool, American television offered him new roles. From 2018 to 2022 he played Casper in Better Call Saul, across six episodes. Casper is a member of Werner Ziegler’s crew, played by Rainer Bock.

In the sixth season, in the episode Axe and Grind, directed by Giancarlo Esposito, Casper’s character clashes with Lalo. With that, Kapičić became part of one of the most acclaimed dramas on contemporary television.

Counterpart, Love, Death & Robots and Other Series

In 2018 he played Lieber in the series Counterpart. A year later he lent his voice to Lieutenant Nikolai Zakharov in the episode The Secret War of the anthology Love, Death & Robots. It is a series of animated short films, one of whose key creators is Tim Miller, the same director who chose him for Colossus.

In 2022 he appeared in the series Chicago Med as Nikola Corluka, in an episode of the seventh season.

Call of Duty and Films After 2020

Kapičić voices the character of Nikolai in the video games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023).

In 2023 he played Olgaren in the horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter, in which Corey Hawkins also appeared. That same year he appeared in the horror comedy Slotherhouse, as Oliver.

Personal Life

Stefan Kapičić is married to Croatian actress Ivana Horvat Kapičić. They met in 2013 on the set of the series Zora dubrovačka, where they worked together. They announced their engagement in December 2015 and married in 2017 in Los Angeles, after about four years together.

The ceremony was small and private, attended by their closest friends. Kapičić said at the time that he wanted to keep the details to himself.

The couple has two sons. The first, Ivan, was born on 27 May 2020, and the second, Sebastijan, in August 2023. The actor announced the birth of his first son on Instagram, along with his own childhood photograph with his parents in Cologne.

Kapičić lives and works in the United States. Even so, he remains connected to Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, where audiences continue to follow him.

Interesting Facts

• Winning the role of Colossus took 120 takes at a single audition, which extended the session by eight hours.
• In the film Bićemo prvaci sveta he played his own father.
• He speaks four languages: Serbian, English, German and Russian.
• He received his first comic book from his grandfather at the age of six.
• According to Serbian media, he was captain of the Red Star junior basketball team.
• In the series 24 he appeared in the first episode of the eighth season, where his character is killed by Jack Bauer with an axe, and in Better Call Saul his character clashes with Lalo in an episode involving an axe.
• He went through a secret audition without knowing which film he was applying for.

Awards and Recognition

The best-known recognition that Stefan Kapičić has confirmed winning is the Best Debutant award at the 38th Film Encounters in Niš, a festival of acting achievements, in 2003. He received it for his first film role, in Miloš Petričić’s Skoro sasvim obična priča.

No other major awards appear in the available sources, so his success is measured mainly by the range and recognizability of his roles rather than by the number of trophies.

Recognition also came from Montenegro. Culture Minister Aleksandar Bogdanović appointed him in 2019 as a member of the Council for Film Industry, alongside Gabriel Garko and Bojan Bazzeli.

Legacy and Influence

Stefan Kapičić is one of the few actors from the former Yugoslavia who have built a career in the United States. His Colossus became part of one of the most successful superhero franchises, giving regional audiences a reason to follow his work with pride.

As a member of Montenegro’s Council for Film Industry, he takes part in promoting Montenegrin cinema. He spoke with Culture Minister Bogdanović, together with Korean producer TJ Chung and director Milan Todorović, about cooperation on film projects and about Montenegro as a filming destination.

His path, from basketball courts and Belgrade stages to major film productions, is often cited as an example that a regional actor can succeed on the world stage too.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Stefan Kapičić?

Stefan Kapičić is a Serbian actor born on 1 December 1978 in Cologne. He is best known for playing Colossus in the Deadpool films, as well as for the series Obični ljudi, Larin izbor and Better Call Saul.

Where and when was Stefan Kapičić born?

He was born on 1 December 1978 in Cologne, then part of West Germany. When he was three years old, his family moved to Yugoslavia.

What is Stefan Kapičić best known for?

He is best known for playing Colossus in Deadpool, Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. He is also known for playing Casper in Better Call Saul.

Who are Stefan Kapičić’s parents?

His mother is Montenegrin actress Slobodanka “Beba” Žugić, and his father is Dragan Kapičić, a former Yugoslav basketball player. His paternal grandfather was Jovo Kapičić, a national hero of Yugoslavia.

How tall is Stefan Kapičić?

Stefan Kapičić is 193 centimeters tall, or six feet four inches.

Is Stefan Kapičić married and does he have children?

He has been married to Croatian actress Ivana Horvat Kapičić since 2017. They have two sons, Ivan, born in 2020, and Sebastijan, born in 2023.

What education did Stefan Kapičić receive?

He studied acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Before that he briefly studied philosophy or general literature, as sources differ.

Which American series has Stefan Kapičić appeared in?

He has appeared in The Unit, Numb3rs, 24, The Event, Counterpart, Better Call Saul and Chicago Med, and he also lent his voice to the series Love, Death & Robots.

Which languages does Stefan Kapičić speak?

He speaks Serbian, English, German and Russian.

Conclusion

Stefan Kapičić is an actor who went from Belgrade stages and Croatian television series to Hollywood productions. Born in Cologne, the son of a basketball player and an actress, he grew up with sports and comics before devoting himself to acting. His role as Colossus in the Deadpool films earned him worldwide recognition, while the series Obični ljudi, Larin izbor and Better Call Saul confirmed him as a versatile performer. Today he lives and works in America, but remains close to audiences in the region.