Ryan Reynolds is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, which he largely achieved by sticking to the same persona in most of his on and offscreen projects. As 2010’s underrated cult classic Buried proved, he’s a fantastic dramatic actor when the occasion calls for it, but he’s more than happy to rely on the quick-witted, sarcastic and sardonic template that’s served him so well.
You’d have to go a long way back to find the last time Reynolds ventured outside of his comfort zone, but fans don’t seem to mind, with Deadpool in particular the role he was born to play. It takes all of his signature characteristics, dials them up way past eleven and then drops them into an R-rated comic book blockbuster packed with in-jokes, Easter Eggs and fourth wall breaks.
As the leading man and producer who also contributes heavily to the writing process, you’d have thought the actor would have the Merc with a Mouth down pat at this stage. However, in a new interview Reynolds revealed that he still finds Wade Wilson stressful to embody, because he’s always pushing himself to make things better.
“I always think when I’ve got Deadpool just right, I’m speaking from experience from Deadpool 1 and 2, that I need to make it 30 to 40% percent better than it already it is. Even if I’m at the moment where I’m like, ‘This is perfect, this moment!’. Then, I stop and I go, ‘Okay, this has to be 30% better than it already is’. It’s a stressful thing to get right, or at least right as far as I’m concerned.”
Now that he’s on the press circuit for next weekend’s video game-inspired action comedy Free Guy, we’ve been getting more details and insight into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Deadpool 3 than ever before, and it’s looking as though the hotly-anticipated sequel could be gearing up to shoot next year, so let’s hope that Reynolds doesn’t pile any more projects onto his plate having shot Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, Free Guy, Red Notice, The Adam Project and now festive musical comedy Spirited one after the other, and he’s still got John Krasinski’s Imaginary Friends set for a 2023 release.