Ryan Reynolds says ‘Deadpool’ took 11 years – and 47 rejection letters – to hit screens
The Hollywood actor reveals the reasons he never gave up on ‘Deadpool’ – his passion project for over a decade
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool. Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds. Since Reynolds cussed and slashed his way onto the big screen last year as Marvel Comics’ deliciously twisted character in the movie of the same name, it has been hard to separate the two entities.
Deadpool has been Reynolds’ passion project for more than a quarter of his life – 11 years, to be exact – and it’s a movie that he had been writing with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick for over five years.
in January.
Ryan Reynolds recounts his first encounter with a Piaget watch at SIHH 2017:
“There is a shocking amount of parallels, a set of pleasing symmetries between Deadpool and myself. I feel I can always channel that character and bring it to life in ways that I couldn’t have had with other roles.”
Our snatched encounter barely leaves us time to warm up, much less for him to channel the R-rated antihero. Even then, there was an underlying trait that was obvious: just as there is a likeable quality to Deadpool, for all his crass rudeness and violence, Reynolds in person is affable, charming and equally likeable. Perhaps it’s a nod to his “nice” Canadian roots.
Born to a cop father and a sales assistant mother, Reynolds was the youngest of four sons – two of whom joined the police. Ryan knew from a young age that his future was on stage, not in uniform. In school, he realised he had a talent for improvisational comedy, which was quickly recognised by casting directors. At 13, he became a child star in the teen soap, Fifteen. It wasn’t a happy experience for the boy, who went back to school briefly before packing his bags for Los Angeles at 17.