So, just what are the secrets of Reynolds' success? He pretty much spelled it out in an interview with Men's Health magazine:"1. Never Complain, 2. Be Punctual (because otherwise you're saying to people that their time means nothing to you), 3. Try Listening (rather than being so focused on your own mindset), and, most importantly, 4. "Respect Everyone". "When I'm making a movie, I make sure every member of the crew feels included," he said. "I'll change a line in the script just to make Doug the gaffer laugh."
While we're not sure how much the screenwriter cares about Doug the gaffer, we think that's a pretty cool philosophy to have and, for us, a main reason that we wanted to put the following film guide together.
BLADE: TRINITY (2004)
Set up by other vampires, Blade (Wesley Snipes) is suddenly on the radar and wanted by the FBI. He finds he has to work with a team of vampire hunters, the Nightstalkers, to face off against the king of vampires, Dracula. Ryan plays Nightstalker Hannibal King.
In speaking to Movieweb, the actor reflects on his research for the role, "I read a book called Deep Survival, which I thought was interesting, because there's a scene where Hannibal is being tortured by these vampires and I thought, 'Well, how would I get out of this situation? How would I keep myself alive or keep myself from breaking?' And this book is interesting, because it talks about how people use humor to do that, to stay alive. I love that about Hannibal King. He would never sell out his friends or give up his friends. I like that it came from a rooted place of heart and showed a test of his character and mettle."
SMOKIN' ACES (2006)
Jeremy Piven is Las Vegas performer turned snitch Buddy Israel, whose decision to turn state's evidence is likely to be the unhealthiest choice he could make.
"I’ve certainly never been in a movie that’s had this unique brand of unblinking violence before," says Ryan, who plays FBI agent Richard Messner. "So that’s sort of new for me. But it’s like any other role. You tackle it in the same way and you try to find the truth to it and I was really caught up with this guy who was trapped in this bureaucratic FBI cluster-[frak], for lack of a better word, and because of that loses someone that is very dear to him. So for me it was just playing the truth of that the whole time."
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009)
In this backstory for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Ryan actually plays Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), but you would be really hardpressed connecting this guy to the character that would go on to offend us all in the best ways possible.
“It was a very frustrating experience,” Ryan recalled to EW.com. “I was already attached to the Deadpool movie. We hadn’t at that point written a script yet. [Origins] came along and it was sort of like, ‘Play Deadpool in this movie or we’ll get someone else to.’ And I just said, ‘I’ll do it, but it’s the wrong version. Deadpool isn’t correct in it.' Apparently nobody cared."
BURIED (2010)
Ryan plays Paul, a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. Suddenly attacked, he awakens to find himself buried alive in a coffin, left with only a cigarette lighter and a cell phone standing between him and certain death.
As much as he liked the script, he admits that he was a bit concerned saying yes. "The problem was that I had no idea how you shoot something like this," says Ryan. "It was such a technical challenge that had never been undertaken before." When he was sent a 15-page document detailing the way the film would be shot by director Rodrigo Cortés, he changed his mind: "He included so much, that I couldn't help but get swept away with his vision."
GREEN LANTERN (2011)
Ryan plays test pilot Hal Jordan, who finds his life changed forever when bestowed upon him is the "power ring" of the Green Lantern Corp. Transformed into a superhero, he is given the task of safeguarding the Earth… despite the fact he really doesn't know what he's doing.
“Superhero movies are meant to capture our imagination in some of the most impossible ways,” he points out. “To that end, Green Lantern is a perfect character to bring to the movies, because he really has it all — action, adventure, humor and humanity. What I love about Hal is that there’s nothing extraordinary about the guy. Of course, he’s not necessarily your average human being in terms of what he does for a living, but for the most part, he’s not an exceptional example of his species. Throughout the course of the film, Hal will have to look a little deeper into himself, but when this gift is initially bestowed upon him, all he can really think besides, 'Wow, how cool is this?' is, 'Why me?'"
SAFE HOUSE (2012)
A young CIA agent (Ryan) is given the assignment of keeping watch on a fugitive (Denzel Washington) in a safe house, but when that house is attacked the duo find themselves on the run.
Says Ryan, "I was fascinated by the fact my character lives a complete lie. He's lying to himself and wraps himself up in the flag. There's a lot of hubris involved. We feel what he's doing is righteous and that there's a dark, seedy underbelly to what he does, not the least of which is the fact that he lies to everyone he loves and that takes its toll. He's beaten up from that. Matt's growth is debatable. In some ways, it's almost a regression. Throughout the course of the film, he's resorting to some of the ways he's previously despised. The audience's concern as we're watching is that Matt might be affected by Frost [Denzel] in the same way that Frost was swayed by whoever it was who caused him to go off book. One of the things that Frost does is reveal to Matt what this agency really is, how some of the black ops that it engages in are in the guise of a higher good. It affects Matt deeply and he's seeing how this could easily become him one day. Whether that's growth or not, he's definitely changing."
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Ryan is Nick, a cop murdered in the line of duty who finds himself a part of the Rest In Peace Department, which consists of other fallen cops seeking justice. Nick is teamed with Roy (Jeff Bridges), who has been at this game for a couple of centuries. Enthusiastic about the role and keen to take a more active part in the film's development, Ryan also signed on as an executive producer.
"The script has been through all sorts of iterations, and finally landed on this current version," he shares. "I love the comic and our script takes its essence, as well as its basic plotlines and devices, and uses that. There's a bit of tragedy and a love story wrapped up in this incredibly funny, charming movie, which is a hard thing to pull off."
THE VOICES (2014)
A likable guy — Jerry (Ryan) — pursues his office crush with the help of his evil talking pets, but things turn sinister when she stands him up for a date and we quickly begin to realize that he's not exactly the guy he presents himself to be.
In talking to MetroUS, Ryan said, "Some people find it gory. I think it’s offset by Jerry’s innocence and arrested development. He was traumatized at 10 or 11 years old, and he’s still 10 or 11 years old when we meet him. It’s also offset by the fact that there’s this asexuality to him. That’s important, especially since we’re dealing with women in this movie. If there was a sexual component, the movie would be wholly unpleasant in every way shape or form, and it would never see the light of day. He’s the nicest serial killer you’ll ever meet."
SELF/LESS (2015)
Ben Kingsley plays Damian, a dying real estate mogul who transfers his consciousness into a healthy young body (provided by Ryan), but soon finds that neither the procedure nor the company that performed it are quite what they seem.
Notes Ryan, "I think every viewer gets drawn in when a wish-fulfillment aspect is a key part of a movie. Extending life, cheating death — if and when the right resources are poured in, this kind of science doesn't seem that far off. I love playing characters who are given specific moral choices, and the character of Damian is particularly interesting because he is morally flexible. The audience will themselves wonder, 'Would I do that?' Self/Less is very thought-provoking."
DEADPOOL (2016)
In what remains the most subversive superhero film to date, Ryan brings the character of Wade Wilson/Deadpool to life the way it should be.
“In the comic book world, Deadpool is a man of our time with the ability to spout just the right thing, in terms of a pop culture reference, at the worst possible moment,”quips Ryan. “That’s what makes him interesting to me and also makes him sort of limitless. We stayed as true to the character as possible. We really ran with the idea of Deadpool being aware he’s a comic book anti-hero. It gave us the freedom to tell this story in a totally unorthodox way. We occupy a space that no other comic book movie has — or can.”
CRIMINAL (2016)
In an effort to prevent an evil plot from being unleashed, dead CIA agent Bill Pope (Ryan in a smaller role than one would expect) has his memories, secrets, and skills implanted into a death-row inmate (Kevin Costner) in hopes that he will complete the operative's mission.
THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD (2017)
Think of this one like a classic "Buddy Cop" film, though neither of the leads are actually cops. Ryan is the world's top bodyguard (Michael Bryce), who takes on the safety of Samuel L. Jackson's hit man Darius Kincaid, who is scheduled to testify at the International Criminal Court. Needless to say, there are outside forces that want to stop them.
Ryan describes Bryce as “a man who suffered from extraordinary hubris and took a fall from grace. Bryce lost a client which has sent him into a downward spiral of shame. We find him two years after the incident and though he’s probably still the best in the business, he’s basically at a loss. Then his ex-girlfriend asks him to do this job he really doesn’t want, but that he needs. In a nutshell, he has to protect a man who has spent the better part of a decade trying to kill him.”
DEADPOOL 2 (2018)
Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool) assembles a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg Cable (Thanos himself, Josh Brolin).
Says Reynolds of working with the film's director, David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde), "Dave elevated everything across the board. You need to sort of put him in this fiction hold kind of place with it, he was really largely responsible for the action. Of course he was responsible for the action, but he was wonderful at kind of walking the tight rope of tone. Which is always a difficult thing to walk, very difficult for everyone really. And it's something you have to be mindful of at every moment, every scene in the movie. So, he was great at seeing the macro, not just the micro. He was the guy that, I don't even think there was an action director anymore, I think of him a little more as a fantastic director. I mean he so understood the heart and the emotion of the story, and would always steer us back there when we would wander into the abyss of Deadpool's sort of insane, meta world. So, I can very easily almost go to far with it. And Dave was great about saying, hey let's get this stuff that's he's pushing things too far, but let's also grab the stuff that keeps the character grounded, and keeps us rooting for him, and keeps us sort of understanding his pain."
DETECTIVE PIKACHU (2019)
In a world where people collect Pokémon to do battle, a boy comes across an intelligent talking Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who seeks to be a detective.
As Ryan told comicbook.com, "A whole bunch of us took passes at the script and we all got to shape it the way we wanted; I got to make sure the voice sort of worked the way I think it could work for me. Inevitably, I'm at the mercy of the filmmakers."
6 UNDERGROUND (2019)
Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skill, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future.
In describing the "chaos" of working on a Michael Bay film, Ryan noted to Variety, "You never know when you're supposed to be shooting or what you are supposed to be doing r where you are supposed to be going or what you are supposed to be saying. But somehow, some way, he and his editors make it all kind of come together on the screen and you get this unbelievable spectacle of a movie that's muscular and a huge event. There is a rhyme to his madness."
HITMAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD (2021)
The bodyguard, Michael Bryce (Ryan Renolds), continues his friendship with assassin, Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), as they try to save Darius' wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), who seems more than capable of taking care of herself.
As reported by Showbiz CheatSheet, Ryan points out that these films are worse than Deadpool in one particular way: "More than Deadpool, this has got a lot more swear words. In Deadpool, at least it's mostly just Deadpool swearing. In this it's Salma, it's Sam, to a lesser extent, me. But, wow. There's a line in the movie where I say, 'Your mouth needs an exorcist,' and that's a true story. I think swear words were added, though. I feel like Sam was eased out of the womb saying that one particular wwear word, which is a terrible thing to say as you're exiting a parent."
FREE GUY (2021)
A bank teller (Ryan Reynolds) discovers that he's actually an NPC inside a brutal, open world video game and for him, this changes everything.
Says Ryan, "It was a script that I read; I sent it to Shawn Levy, and I said, "This is something I think we could do together." I loved the themes of it - particularly backdropped by the world we've been living in the last [few] years. And we just jumped into it. Zak Penn and Shawn Levy and I all just started a massive rewrite that really went all the way through to the edit room. It was such a labor of love. But there's an old expression, "Listen to your movie because it will talk to you." And the reason why I keep working with Shawn and love Shawn so much is he believes in that same sort of idea as well. So, we were pivoting and moving with this movie the whole time, and the script eventually found or took on this whole life of its own. And it's really, I think, probably the best film I've ever been lucky enough to be a part of."
RED NOTICE (2021)
FBI agent John Hartley (Dwayne Johnson) reluctantly teams up with art thief Nolan Booth (Ryan Reynolds), to take down an even bigger art thief by the name of Sarah Black/The Bishop (Gal Gadot), but nothing is as it seems.
In describing the secret of a successful buddy comedy-adventure, Ryan told Firstpost, "It's the chemistry. If you don't have that, you're screwed. Gal, Dwayne and I are pretty lucky we have that. It's not something you can invent. You have actors who aren't necessarily trying to win a scene as much as they're trying to play. Dwayne is very good at listening in scenes. I love to listen in scenes, and Gal does that too. So I think that's why we're very good at it when we're performing. More than a buddy comedy, this is like a proper threehander. You're really trying to shine a light on each character. They each have an arc, a moment. As far as buddy comedies are concerned, I haven't done too many except maybe The Hitman's Bodyguard with Samuel L Jackson. I loved those movies, like Lethal Weapon as a kid. But I haven't really done a ton of it personally."
THE ADAM PROJECT (2022)
After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds) teams up with his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell) for a mission to save the future. The film also stars Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana and Jennifer Garner.
For Ryan, much of this film was very personal — especially a scene where adult Adam talks to his mother in the past —as he told Collider: "To me, it's the ultimate wish fulfillment scene. It's a moment where you get to sit across from a parent as a peer. There's always that moment that you never want to rob any child of, which is that moment where your parent becomes a person. There's something very magical about that. Also, there's something very emotional about that. So to me, these are all things that are very real to me. My dad was a difficult man. He was not an easy guy to know really, less about him being a difficult personality, but more, he is a really difficult man to know. That is all in this movie.
"The idea that we tell ourselves stories about parents or stories about people to adjust to the narrative we have about ourselves, or to explain the narrative we have about ourselves. That narrative isn't always true. The story that we tell ourselves isn't always true. And I like that that happens. But you know the line, boys always come back for their mamas, is a real line. That's something that we've said to my mom, my brothers and I, when my dad died. We showed up for her. It's something we always say in our house, do we show up? I say it to my kids, what do we do? And my kids will say, 'We show up.' And it means that you show up for people. Sometimes it's not convenient or perfect or anything, but if you show up for people in life, they're going to show up for you and everything. Everything about your life is going to be better with that kind of integrity. That was a big part of my story. I think that was in that bar scene, which is one of my favorite scenes in the film, for sure."
Note that sequels to Deadpool, Free Guy and Red Notice are on the way.