when he loaded up his truck, it was a beat-up jeep,
and secretly drove from Vancouver to Los Angeles to
take a shot at becoming an actor. He was so afraid
his parents – particularly his father, a former boxer
and policeman – would find out that he would call his
folks from a payphone while pretending to be staying
with his brother in Vancouver.
But Ryan’s Hollywood gamble paid off, even if,
by his standards, it needed Marvel’s flawed hero
Deadpool to transport the actor out of a career
lull that almost finished him off.
The Canadian heartthrob had to work hard to
shake up his image after a string of movies that relied
far too heavily on the handsome leading-man
aura and that saw him go through the motions
in far too many rom-coms (The Change-Up,
The Proposal, and Definitely, Maybe). Then there was
his lamentable turn in the disastrous
Green Lantern, in 2011.
A few years later, on the road to recovery,
the likes of Mississippi Grind, The Captive,
and Safe House showed that he could deliver
hard-edged performances if given the opportunity,
but Deadpool truly tipped the scales.
And when Deadpool 2 made three-quarters of a billion
dollars at the box office in 2018, the Canadian,
a lifelong devotee of glib sarcasm, combined this
winning dry wit with devastating good looks to
cement his reputation as one of
Hollywood’s hottest leading men.
The star returns with Deadpool & Wolverine,
opposite the brilliant Hugh Jackman. The movie’s
$275m budget makes it the most expensive
R-rated film ever made.
Pressure? Not a bit of it for Reynolds.
STRIPLV: Does Deadpool & Wolverine being given a “Hard R” rating mean that you were able to expand things and not feel like you were being confined to a particular audience or demographic? REYNOLDS: Err, to a certain extent I would say, yeah. It certainly wasn’t about knowing that once it was given the “green light” and then trying to be as extreme as possible. That’s not why I was doing that. However, yeah, I would say that it allowed us to go that little bit further and develop the plot and dialogue and visuals more than, say, if we were allotted a PG rating, of course, which, with the first two Deadpool movies being rated R, that was never going to be the case, but you see what I’m saying, right? It wasn’t about using that almost blank canvas as something to just desecrate the franchise and see how far we could push the envelope, so to speak. It was about using it in the right way and creating a piece that is sympathetic to what we’ve been doing but obviously able to add things that we may not have been permitted to include. The good thing is, we’ve got the blueprint of the previous two movies, and we know what the fans reacted well to; we know what memes are out there – because that’s the sign and benchmark of a good piece of work, yeah? [Laughs]. Seriously though, working together with Hugh (Jackman, Wolverine) and Sean (Levy, the film’s director) and then submitting things to Disney where, we felt: “Jeez, is this a bit too much for something with a Disney sticker on it?” Thankfully, it wasn’t at all, and it really gave us the confidence to go a little further, to be as edgy as we knew the fans would accept, tolerate, and, most importantly, want, and that support and backing from Disney was just amazing, and I can’t thank them enough. STRIPLV: As you say, it’s not about being as loud, brash, and offensive as you can be, is it? It’s about getting everything right and what is to be expected from a Deadpool movie, isn’t it? REYNOLDS: Yeah, it really is. You’ve hit the nail on the head, there. With that incredible allowance and leniency or free rein from Disney, we really could have taken this movie in any direction we wanted, and I’m fairly confident that that would have rubber-stamped it. However, we had to stay true to the format, the foundations and the remit of Deadpool. It’s all well and good being a movie that breaks boundaries and is remembered as being outrageous and attractive to watchers of severe or extreme movies. Although, as I say, we could easily have done that, once you’ve crossed that threshold, where do you go next with whatever you do. So, I think we’ve got the right balance with what we’ve put together with this one and I hope the fans feel the same when they see it. STRIPLV: What was it about the Wolverine character that made it necessary to combine them in a movie? REYNOLDS: I don’t know how any Marvel fan wouldn’t agree to it happening, but it meant that I got to work with Hugh Jackman. I mean, come on, the guy is an absolute legend, and I also want to add a great friend. Getting to work with him on set is a joy to behold and the first time we actually got to do a scene together, I was so hyped and excited about it that I just didn’t want to mess it up and embarrass myself in front of him. (Laughs) I mean, do you know how that feels to be working with someone that you respect so much? I don’t mean just working with someone famous or celebrated, but anyone who you truly have so much admiration for. Though how many people have worked with the guy who plays Wolverine for a living? This is the only guy who has played that character and he started that role 24 years ago. Sometimes, you have characters who we won’t name, but we know them all, and they have different actors or actresses playing them over time. Hugh has played Wolverine all that time in nine different movies; sorry, 10. This will be the 10th occasion that Hugh has appeared as Wolverine or Logan, and that’s a nice round number for it to be with me alongside him. STRIPLV: Why has Deadpool meant so much to you? REYNOLDS: I love everything about it, about him. I never would have stuck with it for so long if I didn’t believe so much in his power and abilities and that common bond between us. He’s the best role I’ve ever played. Ultimately, Deadpool is funny; he’s acerbic, and sarcastic, and he’s a hero but is flawed. He knows he’s in a comic book film which is a first for this genre. It’s sexual; it’s quite violent, and quite a few swear words, which you don’t get too often [laughs] in this field, as it were. STRIPLV: Why did it take so long to make the first movie? REYNOLDS: We wrote a script six or seven years before it finally got accepted. It was the best incarnation of the character that could ever have been created, and the studio liked it, but it was like they were locked in complete inaction. They were fiercely protective of the character so nothing happened. I don’t know. I’m still not sure why it took so long. I remember when I was going up for Green Lantern, I remember saying to them, “Look, if I get this, you know, this is it, I probably won’t be able to be involved in Deadpool.” I thought I’d never get another opportunity. This is the last chance. And still, that did nothing. And then we shot this test footage to see if we could get momentum going again. That was only meant for in-house; it was only meant to be seen by the eyes that needed to see it, for the executives at Fox, and they loved it, but nothing happened. Then it leaked, and overnight, it just blew up. And that’s the reason the film got made. The reaction from Comic-Con, Twitter, and Facebook is the only reason it got made. Within a month of all that, the studio finally said to us, “Go ahead, make your movie,” and that was that. Finally, the good fight we’d been fighting for so long was all worth it. STRIPLV: Working with Hugh has meant you’ve had to cease your torment of him? REYNOLDS: No, no, no, I will never relent in my torment of Hugh Jackman. And you want to know why? Because I love him. Yes, it’s to disguise my unrequited adoration and also gives me an excuse to do a terrible Australian accent. STRIPLV: Do you deliberately fuel Deadpool with some of your natural sense of irony and cynicism? REYNOLDS: I related to his sense of humor and way of looking at things. He doesn’t take himself seriously, and I’ve never taken myself seriously, either. That’s a side of me that I think has come through in many of the characters I’ve played, and I knew exactly how I could take Deadpool in a very different kind of direction than you’ve ever seen any superhero take. STRIPLV: I need to ask about the Deadpool suits - how many did you have for this movie? REYNOLDS: I’m not sure what the total number was but it was certainly double figures. As somebody who was one of the producers of these movies, and we’re trying to put every nickel on the screen, I know these suits are expensive! And I was like: do we need all these? But I quickly realised that we beat the sh*t out of those suits. Every week I would have to get into a new one. And that’s when it really was terrible. A brand new suit on a cold day? It’s like six hours before it’s moving properly again. You’re as stiff as a board for the first half of the day. I would be running and diving onto these mats on the freeway overpass, just trying to break the suit in so I could walk and talk properly in it. STRIPLV: Another aspect of your ongoing projects is your ownership of Wrexham FC. How does it feel to have such a fantastic effect on the people of a small Welsh city? REYNOLDS: You know, myself and Rob [McElhenney, co-owner] often speak about how it makes us feel being welcomed into the club, the town, and the fact that they hopefully now fully understand just how much we’re invested in it – not just financially, but emotionally. It was a strange feeling to begin with. When you’re thinking about doing something because someone on Twitter all those years ago thought it would be amazing for us to buy into the club – and we’ve both said this on numerous occasions, but when we looked at it and wondered if it would be viable, we were both united in our thoughts to go for it. We didn’t know if it was going to work out or if it was going to be given a huge pushback from the club’s fans and the town, thinking we were just using it as a vanity project. However, thankfully, now that they’ve realized we’re not just two idiots with money showing off that they’ve bought a football club, everyone is pulling together. That’s far more important for a football club, for its fanbase to be unified and all wanting the same thing and supporting in the right way, than just us putting money into the club and promising the world. The team needs its fans as well as financial and emotional backing from any owner or chairman or whoever it may be. But what is even more essential is that they have received us in ways that were far more imaginable than we have first-ever hoped. Because without that, none of this could even begin to be possible, and that helps provide us with the solid foundations, instead of drastically shaky ones, where we know the majority of the fanbase and the club. We’re all on this journey together. So, yeah, I’m extremely grateful for that, and I know Rob is too because we always stop to think about how we’re doing and if we’re doing the right thing for the town. Also, it’s great for folks back in the U.S. and Canada, and pretty much everywhere, to know what Wrexham is, who its people are, and that it’s the same as any other small town and just as nuanced and different at the same time. STRIPLV: You sound very happy these days? REYNOLDS: I’m very happy to be where I am now. I didn’t have that good a time in my twenties, but when I hit 30, I had an early midlife crisis. Then, I started to make up for lost time and began having more fun. But my life now is very good. STRIPLV: So that was a significant turning point in your life? REYNOLDS: Sure, I kind of disconnected from how I was thinking, but I learned to live in the present. In my twenties, I was trying to grow up in a hurry because I thought I had lived too quiet and boring a life when I was younger. But in the process of having fun and being kind of wild for a while I kind of lost something about who I was. I’ve always kind of bounced around. So I needed to take a few steps back and disconnect from that and learn to appreciate everything the way I did when I was a younger kid and become a more open and interesting person. STRIPLV: You grew up in a very beautiful part of the world, Vancouver, Canada. Are you very outspoken about preserving the environment? REYNOLDS: I want my daughters to grow up in a world where they won’t have to struggle to breathe clean air, where they won’t have to deal with a warmer climate and all the terrible implications that have for our planet. Those kinds of concerns terrify me. I want them to enjoy a world similar to the one in which I lived. I spent a lot of time growing up in nature and getting to experience the natural beauty we have in British Columbia and the rivers, lakes, mountains, and forests. That time of my life gave me an incredible sense of freedom, and I want to be able to do whatever I can to help make sure that my children will grow up in that kind of world. STRIPLV: You’re a funny guy. Was humor a big part of your childhood? REYNOLDS: I’m the youngest of four boys, so I was never going to win with my fists. I had to win with something else. And very early on, I discovered that that was mouthing off. It worked for me, and it helped me out in high school; it got me out of fights. STRIPLV: Was high school a particularly rough time? REYNOLDS: No, not like you’re thinking. It was high school. It was no rougher than most kids have it. I survived, and that’s often the best outcome from it. STRIPLV: What’s the most formidable challenge for any actor? REYNOLDS: I think it’s the reality that it’s really hard to escape your identity when you’re working in film. When you’re up on the big screen, you’re really larger than life and even if you change your hair or grow a beard or wear glasses, your identity remains a part of you, at least in terms of how the audience perceives you. There’s still this general image of you, and you want to be able to expand that awareness that the public has and make audiences feel comfortable seeing you outside of those roles that established your persona. STRIPLV: And the best part? REYNOLDS: The on-set experience. I love working with the crew. I love that kind of roadside attraction. When I was shooting The Captive, I would go to the local movie theaters and hang out with the people. You can’t beat that. STRIPLV: You and Blake have successfully kept your daughters out of the spotlight. Is it something you have to work hard at? REYNOLDS: It’s simply a case of two worlds; one is work, the other is home, and I never want the two of them to mix because who wants their work mixing with their home? Most of us like that divide and I am no different. I’ve been around Hollywood, in Hollywood, for 25 years. When I say in it, I mean working in it, and I’ve seen so many make the mistake of allowing their lives, their home lives to become intertwined and consumed almost, and, you know, life is hard enough without that kind of spotlight. And people don’t necessarily care, and I know that sounds douchey sort of, but it’s true, they don’t. We’re not of that caliber of, you know, “buzz.” STRIPLV: How would you feel if your kids followed mom and dad into the business? REYNOLDS: I’m not sure, to be honest, but it’s their decision. I don’t know if I would actively encourage them to become showbiz kids because showbiz kids are monsters—I think we all know that. (Laughs) STRIPLV: Perhaps they’d rather have a life out of the spotlight tending to animal life. How do they get on with your Golden Retriever, Baxter? REYNOLDS: They love him. He is a big part of the family. I found Baxter at an S.P.C.A. in Houston. I was looking for a rescue dog for a friend who wanted a chocolate lab, which they didn’t have. I saw this guy, a golden retriever mix, and took him for a walk, then took the dog back to his cage and got in my car. It was about 45 minutes later, I turned the car around - it was the way he’d looked going back into the cage. I went back in and said, ‘Let’s get the fuck out of here!’ And Baxter jumped in the car and sat with his paw around my neck! It was like a very brief rom-com: boy walks the dog, boy loses the dog, the boy makes a public declaration of love, sincere music swells, and off we go into the wild blue yonder. STRIPLV: Finally, health. You’re renowned for looking after yourself these days. REYNOLDS: There are certain boxes I will tick, and I know if I do that, I’ll probably be okay. Firstly, being healthy, eating well, exercising, talking about stuff, and looking at wellbeing from a wide perspective is vital for me. That gives me the platform to confront problems or tackle what’s in front of me. Sleep is also a really big part of that. Like most people, I have a lifestyle that means my sleep patterns change quite frequently, but getting back to a point of ensuring I was rested and recovering was one of the best things I ever did. And if my movie still stinks after all that, I can take it. STRIPLV: Do you find being fit and feeling good takes away the anxiety that you have said followed you around for so long? REYNOLDS: It’s strange that you have a certain level of expectation. It eats away at you, even though your part in it is finished, and you can do no more. And when you get up on stage it all ebbs away anyway, but the lead-up to it is dark. Every doctor said it was anxiety, nothing more nothing less. It didn’t help me to know this thing was still there, perhaps from my childhood, but when you know it isn’t something more serious, you can begin to piece things back together again. It’s like everything else – get to your low point, find a platform, then build. STRIPLV: And fitness is a big part of maintaining confidence? REYNOLDS: Fitness, for me, is actually more functional than anything else because I don’t want to hurt myself falling on cement, so I have to do it. It’s not a case of, and I often read, “I just feel so much better for it. I feel great in this shape.” And you know, that’s crap. It is painful being in that shape; it’s physically painful! I always laugh when I hear some actors say, “I put on 40 pounds of muscle for this role.” That is not possible. Your body cannot carry that much muscle. If you put on maybe seven or eight pounds, you’re huge. That’s a lot. That’s all you need. STRIPLV: Finally, do you think you’ve become more adept at choosing projects that are right for you? REYNOLDS: I wasn’t as attentive as I should have been earlier in my career in terms of choosing projects. I didn’t approach my choices as methodically and seriously as I needed to, but in the end, you wind up learning from your failures. I feel much more confident and satisfied with the work I’m doing now and you just have to have faith that you’ll make more of the right decisions than the wrong ones.
RYAN REYNOLDS: LOVES & HATES
The things that make the Deadpool star tick and those that don’t!
LOVES
Estrogen I’m just fine being surrounded by estrogen. I grew up in a house full of testosterone: I’m the youngest of four boys, and my dad was a cop, and that’s intense.
For whatever reason, I always got along great with girls. I love having daughters because I remember what it was like in my house growing up, where we guys would destroy the house when our parents were out!
Blake’s sense of humor My wife is the real deal—I mean, she is a mercenary. At one point in the middle of the delivery of our daughter James, the doctor’s cell phone went off, and she said, “Oh, no. Go ahead and take a personal call. Feel free.” She was cracking jokes in the delivery room.
Austria and Switzerland I love Vienna. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. When I filmed Woman in Gold, I flew home and went back with my brother two weeks later. We drove by motorbike through the Alps to Munich, Germany. It was fantastic.
I also love Switzerland. No one recognizes me there, and there are no paparazzi looking for me. I love hiking in the Swiss Alps, which reminds me of growing up in British Columbia.
When I was in Geneva, I also enjoyed practicing my French, which I tried to recall from my school days. It wasn’t always successful.
Baxter, the Golden Retriever I found Baxter at an SPCA in Houston. I was looking for a rescue dog for a friend who wanted a chocolate lab, which they didn’t have.
I saw this guy (a golden retriever mix) and took him for a walk. Then, I returned him to his cage and drove away.
About 45 minutes later, I turned the car around - it was the way he’d looked going back into the cage.
I went back in and said, ‘Let’s get the fuck out of here!’ And Baxter jumped in the car and sat with his paw around my neck! It was like a very brief rom-com: boy walks the dog, boy loses dog, the boy makes a public declaration of love, sincere music swells, and off we go into the wild blue yonder.
HATES
Flying (and flying with his kids) When I was 19, I decided to get my skydiving license. I did 12 jumps, but on my 13th, my chute didn’t open. My life was flashing before my eyes, but I managed to pull my reserve, which opened, and I landed okay. But it’s given me a lifelong fear of flying.
I get very aggravated when I’m flying, where you have to put up with the guy with the whooping cough and the lady who drenched herself in perfume duty-free.
And I would rather drink a piping hot bowl of liquid rabies than get on a plane with very young children.
Anxiety I’ve dealt with anxiety for most of my life. I have three older brothers, and our father was tough. He wasn’t easy on anyone. And he wasn’t easy on himself. I think the anxiety might have started there, trying to find ways to control others by trying to control myself. At the time, I never recognised that. I was just a twitchy kid.
By the time we were in [post-production with Deadpool], we’d been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive. I had a little bit of a nervous breakdown. I literally had the shakes. I went to see a doctor because I felt like I was suffering from a neurological problem or something. And every doctor I saw said, “You have anxiety.” I’m lucky I had Blake to help me keep it together and sane.
Green Lantern I represented the death of the superhero for a while. After Green Lantern, I was pretty much unemployable.
Green Lantern suffered from that typical Hollywood disease: We get a poster, a release date, an actor, and we don’t have a script, but we’re just going to start shooting anyway.
It was a frustrating and slightly terrifying experience.
Tattoos I hate them all. [Reynolds’s body is speckled with tattoos he had put on as a teenager, including one on the inside of his left wrist which says, ‘Cut here’].
It takes three hours in makeup to mask them. I’d get them all lasered off if it wasn’t hours and hours of brutal pain. But my wife says I should keep them, keep a record of the choices I’ve made.