Ryan Reynolds is back in his favorite genre with the buddy comedy Red Notice, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot. The Hollywood star talks about his manner of comic craziness and the popularity of action-comedy adventure films. The actor also mentioned that he is taking a break from films to find inspiration again for his creativity. Excerpts from an interview:
I had so much fun watching Red Notice, thanks to your one liners and sensible cracks, like in one scene you describe Dwayne Johnson’s head as a giant penis. Can you share with us your method of comic madness? Have these lines been corrected or are they part of the script?
(laughs) He was really excellent. I usually try to do five or six, sometimes 10 alternate versions for each joke, I pre-write them and then I fire them. I do something that is neat and family friendly. And then I do some that are somewhere in between and then there are some that they probably won’t use but sometimes they end up using. But in this case, I left it to Rawson to choose. I didn’t produce the film, but I’m pretty hands-on with the films I produce, which ones we use and where and how and, but I left it to Ross and I’ll let him explore the options. Will give a whole bunch and let him figure out which one he likes best.
The film is an action-comedy adventure. What do you think makes this style popular among all age groups?
I don’t know specifically what it is about this style that makes it popular among all age groups. I mean, a lot of people love action comedy adventures. You know, I personally love treasure hunts, which is part of this movie, there’s a lot of movies like Growing Up, National Treasure and the Indian Jones series and there’s also the Thomas Crown affair which was really popular and I like it that sounds exciting. And I believe many people feel the same way.
We all see a lot of jokes between the characters. Was it as smooth and easy to work with Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot?
There was a lot left to do on the sets which you can see in the film. Most of the time we were trying to make each other laugh. I was frankly surprised by how many lines ended up in the movie that I wasn’t intending to. I was just trying to make Dwayne laugh, and trying to ruin him, and you know, delay us. It was a really extraordinary experience, because it’s about working with people you know. These are my friends. Dwayne and I have been friends for 21 years. And I’ve known Gal for a little less than 10 years. So Red Notice was like working out with your best friends. And it’s the best way you could possibly go to work and I didn’t take it lightly. I really love that experience.
Initially your character is mischievous and cheeky, but later in the film, we learn that he has an emotional backstory. So how do you, as an actor, go about giving that kind of character depth and dimension, who starts a certain way and ends on another.
I don’t know if there’s really any rhyme or reason to a film like this. Dwayne himself or Gal, I think people are looking for our real dynamic off screen as well to be the same thing on screen. I mean how do we talk to each other when we’re just sitting there. You can’t really experience the pathos aspect of the film without being set properly in the beginning. So you know, the emotional backbone of a movie has always been like the connective tissue that holds it all together. But it is not the primary focus, I would say the focus of this kind of film is the action adventure, swashbuckling, comedic parts. But yes, you need a little bit of that other stuff to hold it together. Now, I sometimes do other films where the emotional aspect is a lot more center stage and prevalent and it is a different kind of work. And this is a different approach. But it’s something that just going to work every single day was just an absolute pleasure. I consider myself very lucky that I got a chance to work on my buds.
What do you think is the right material for a great friend comedy?
I think it’s chemistry more than anything, you should have great chemistry because if you don’t, you are kind of bad. I am very lucky that Dwayne, Gal and I all have good chemistry. It’s not really something you can invent. I mean, you have actors who aren’t necessarily trying to win in every scene as much as they’re trying to play. So Dwayne is great at listening to the visuals and both Gal and I love to do the same. I think that’s why we’re all kind, we work really well together like we’re performing.
During an earlier interview, you mentioned how the action and the hand-to-hand combat was more exciting than challenging. How has the way working on action film sets changed during the pandemic?
Everyone needs to clear a number of obstacles, including health-related ones, before entering a room on such a set. So the protocols were incredibly strict. I don’t think it’s exaggerating when I say this, but Netflix really set the bar on how to do it in a profound way we were one of the first to see back in the pandemic. So you know, it was a little off if you’re us, because Dwayne, Gal and I were the only people who didn’t wear masks on set because we’re on camera. The protocols were so strict that I never really worried. We made sure everyone was getting tested every day and following every single rule to make sure we wanted the set to be healthy as well. Because if one of us goes down, one of the three of us, the whole movie shuts down and 400 people lose their jobs. We didn’t want to see ourselves responsible for this so we were very careful.
Every time you come up with a new movie, you create your own game. So it sounds like you’re competing with yourself a lot. Do you ever feel pressure?
My next film coming up is called The Adam Project. And it’s very much like it’s a blockbuster film, but at the same time it’s a more personal story. It’s far more emotionally based than something like this. No sharp sarcasm or pop culture references. It’s very distinctive and it reminded me a lot, it was a little inspired by movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and some of those movies I loved as a kid and in its tone, not necessarily the subject matter . There’s no pressure on me. I am excited to tell different types of stories. And I want to work in such films which surprise the audience. I think Free Cow was quite a surprise to the people. And I have a feeling that The Adam Project will feel the same way which is also a Netflix movie.
Comedy is one genre which is really difficult. But it sounds like you’re comfortable with it. How do you make sure it’s fresh and not boring and doesn’t repeat itself?
I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone working in this genre for not diversifying on a topic. You are always repeating aspects of things and changing it. But to keep it fresh, it’s mostly about the content, you’re really trying to make sure I’m doing films that I might find funny. That’s the only kind of barometer I have, I don’t work with anyone who tells me no, don’t do this, or yeah, do this, you know, I mostly have to go it alone and fix it out . Plus, I’ve used writing mostly as a tool to get myself out of trouble on movies over the past 10 years. And it has been my biggest asset. And that’s something I don’t take lightly. I am really lucky to be able to do this. Plus, when it doesn’t seem like it’s going to come off that easily, you switch gears and try different styles.
Any particular reason to take a break from films?
I am taking a sabbatical now and going away from film for a while because you need to do this so that you can get yourself creative and excited again.
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