00:00Canadian superstar Ryan Reynolds had an unusual reason for getting into show business.
00:04I grew up as the youngest of four brothers so, you know, I'm not going to win with my
00:08fists. I'm going to have to win with something else. So, you know, definitely exercising
00:13a certain degree of wit, you know, in our house was a self-defense mechanism.
00:17Reynolds landed his first gig at just 14 on a Canadian soap opera, but it would take years
00:21of struggle to reach international stardom.
00:23I mean, we all feel a certain degree of pressure. I mean, in our job, it wouldn't be a job
00:27if
00:27it wasn't, you know, it would just be a party.
00:29It wasn't until 2009 that Ryan finally broke through, showcasing what would become
00:33his two signature performance styles. First, the romantic comedy The Proposal with his longtime
00:38friend Sandra Bullock.
00:39Is this good for you?
00:40This is nice, yeah.
00:41Okay. Will you marry me?
00:43No. Not unless you say it like you mean it.
00:46In movies, it's this forced intimacy. You know, you all get together and you have to pretend
00:50like you've known each other for a long time and, you know, usually about halfway through
00:53shooting you sort of begin to really feel comfortable with each other and you wish you could go back
00:58and reshoot everything that you've already done. So with Sandy and I, we had that out of the way.
01:03And after that, he starred in the action flick X-Men Origins Wolverine, where Ryan portrayed
01:07the anti-hero Deadpool, a character he would return to again later with more success. In the meantime,
01:13however, he took on the title role in another superhero adventure, the sci-fi epic Green Lantern.
01:18But sadly, the movie was a massive flop.
01:21In black as night, no evil shall escape my sight.
01:26You know, when you work on a large film that is not going the way you hope it would or
01:30anyone
01:30hopes it would, it's a pretty difficult scenario to be around and it can be rough on not just
01:37the actors but everybody involved, down from catering to the producers.
01:41For the next few years, Reynolds continued to swing from comedies such as The Change Up
01:45and The Croods to action flicks like Safe House opposite Denzel Washington.
01:49Everybody got a little banged up, you know. Denzel got a black eye and that was my fault.
01:56And, you know, I separated a shoulder, which I tend to do on every movie.
02:02You know, it was, yeah, everyone had little bumps and bruises, but you wouldn't, you know,
02:05that's the job. I would feel bad if I didn't. And I feel like I didn't do my job properly
02:10if we didn't get too beat up.
02:112014, however, saw Ryan begin to broaden his range, starring in several well-received indie dramas.
02:17Right now, I'm focused on working with great directors. It's a director's medium and it
02:21took me a decade and a half to figure that out. The director is God in cinema and in theater,
02:29it's the actor. In television, it's the writer. But for me, it's all about working with great directors.
02:33But don't think that the book kicking Reynolds has gone soft, as the next year he gave us a
02:37more faithful interpretation of his beloved character in the raunchy superhero comedy,
02:42Deadpool.
02:42And action.
02:45Let us not bring your daughter to work.
02:48I think this character inhabits a space in the comic universe that no other person can
02:54or will ever inhabit. I mean, you know, it's got everything you'd ever want. You know,
02:59for one, I just think it's an absolute miracle that a studio let us make Deadpool,
03:05let alone a rated R Deadpool.
03:08Breaking numerous box office records, the movie was destined to get a sequel.
03:12They're all caught up.
03:15I'm always surprised when something does really well and connects with an audience
03:19just because it's not something I take for granted.
03:21So, you know, I didn't expect Deadpool to do what it did, to be that big a hit.
03:27I don't think anybody did.
03:28But, you know, it also came along at the right time.
03:31With his career at an all-time high, Ryan Reynolds seems to have everything going for him.
03:35But that doesn't make his job any easier.
03:38I mean, I'm afraid to play every role you do.
03:41I mean, you're always in the first few days, you're terrified.
03:43I hope you always get nervous.
03:44I hope I never walk onto a film set all swagger and confidence.
03:48That would just be sort of killing it.
03:49So, we're going to...
03:49We're gonna stop.
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