Before Ryan Reynolds was the box office sensation as Deadpool, he was a rising star who had just been given a golden opportunity.
When Reynolds arrived on the Sydney set to shoot his role in Hugh Jackman’s 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he was unsure of what to expect. The superhero film was “the biggest movie I’d ever worked on,” Reynolds shared. He had landed the role only “two or three weeks” before the filming started.
The film industry was partially impacted by the 2007-08 writers’ strike, leaving Reynolds with a script that was unsettlingly incomplete.
“It would just say, ‘Deadpool/Wade Wilson shows up, says funny stuff, keeps talking, doesn’t stop,’” recalls Reynolds. “I was basically told to just pull the string on my back and go. I don’t typically improvise as much as I write. I’ll write multiple options for jokes or lines. I lack that Robin Williams gift where he can just go on the fly.”
Sitting beside the 47-year-old Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, 55, shakes his head. “I’m going to push back on that,” he says. “I’ve seen how much you write, and it’s true. But if you are thrown something, you improvise like no one else.”
Reynolds continues, explaining how the day he first walked on set was eye-opening. “I was blown away. And I was nervous as hell,” he says. “Walking through the trailers, jet-lagged and feeling out of my depth, I was just thinking, what’s going to happen?”
Then Jackman appeared.
“I heard my name, ‘Ryan!’ in between these trailers as I was walking. And it was you,” says Reynolds. “Just the fact that you knew my name meant so much to me. You came over, hugged me, and said, ‘Welcome aboard. It’s all going to be fine. We’re going to make you comfortable.’”
This kind gesture marked the beginning of a deep friendship for both men. Reynolds says the lessons he learned from Jackman during that first film have stayed with him ever since.
“I learned so much about what it means to lead a set watching you,” Reynolds says to Jackman. “What it means to be gracious to not just those who can change your destiny, but to everyone. I watched you know every crew member’s name, engage with every single part of that crew, making everyone feel seen.”
Reynolds adds, “It left the biggest impression on me. I thought, if I’m ever lucky enough to be in Hugh Jackman’s position, these are the lessons to weave into your DNA as soon as possible.”
Jackman recalls their first meeting fondly. “I remember the first day of this [movie] and you came over and did the same thing,” Jackman says. “You came over and went, ‘Steve!’”
Reynolds laughs: “‘Greg? No, don’t tell me.’”
