Entertainment
Ryan Reynolds found singing and dancing in new Christmas film Spirited harder than any Deadpool fight scenes-James Mottram-Entertainment – Metro
‘It was harder than anything I’ve tackled in my life.’
A young Ryan Reynolds went Dutch, then went home again when he was asked to leave (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, 46, on new festive film Spirited, his Christmas past and present and the joys of co-owning Wrexham FC.
What was the big reason you took the job for your new festive film, Spirited?
The fact Will Ferrell is in it. He’s somebody I’ve admired and loved my entire career. You’d be hard pressed to find somebody who has contributed more to the comedic lexicon of modern society.
So many people say and do the things he’s done on camera without even realising it.
You’re singing and dancing for the first time on screen. Is it harder than stunt work?
I can kind of memorise a complicated fight sequence quicker than most, I’d say. But a dance number, it is starting from ground zero.
I mean, for me, it was really challenging. I moved very slowly at the beginning and I’m not totally certain I got much faster by the end but thankfully it’s not a live show.
Singing and dancing is so much harder than anything that I’ve ever tackled in my life.
If the film’s Ghost of Christmas Past hunted you down for something you’d once done, what would it be for?
Oh, God, I don’t know! I mean, the crap a teenage boy gets up to in their bedroom would probably be enough to throw me in jail for life. I am grateful that the front half of my career was before camera phones.
I don’t have that sordid a past but I do work in show business. Aren’t we all kind of moderately corrupt or awful? Entering show business might be the moment the Ghost of Christmas Past shows up.
Will is a bit of an icon to Ryan (Picture: AP)
What childhood memories do you have of the holiday season?
I’m the youngest of four boys. So my Christmas presents were generally hand-me-downs. Usually my brother’s jacket or his pants, or something like that. It was anticlimactic, to be perfectly honest. But we were all together always.
My family’s pretty working class. So we weren’t going on vacations or any of that kind of stuff. But we were all together, which is something that I’ve carried forth with my own family.
What’s Christmas like at your house now?
Christmas is not over the top by any measure. We kind of go by the ‘one gift from Mom and Dad, one gift from Santa’ kind of rule with the kids. But it’s all about the lead-up. I love the few weeks that lead up to Christmas.
We live in New York. So there’s a ton to do – whether you’re driving down Fifth Avenue or going to go see Christmas musicals at the Lincoln Center. I mean, The Nutcracker is a big one for us. We do that every year.
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And who is the best gift-giver in your household?
Blake [Lively, his actress-wife] is amazing at hitting up my brothers for old photos and stuff. She’ll sometimes get an old photo that is from my childhood or something that I just thought was lost forever. So she always makes it interesting. It’s usually something personal – more sentimental than expensive.
With his wife Blake Lively at this year’s Met Gala (Picture: Gotham/Getty Images)
Do you like doing more family-friendly movies these days, especially for your daughters?
I do like doing movies they can see: Free Guy and even The Adam Project and Pikachu and these kinds of things that they get to watch, which I love because they’re certainly not gonna see Deadpool for at least another dozen years.
How much are you enjoying co-owning Wrexham FC?
This isn’t hyperbole when I say it has been the great privilege of my life to be a part of this incredible project and something that I’m quite sure I’ll be a part of until the day I finally close my eyes to this weird, dumb show.
I’ve enjoyed every second of it. Not just the football club, but the community of Wrexham, the way they’ve embraced Rob [McElhenney] and me. It certainly was an unorthodox kind of proposition when we came in but putting community first… we didn’t really necessarily come in with that ethos.
They taught us that when we looked at the community and so it’s been a really beautiful experience, top to bottom. Win or lose. We just adore every aspect of this community and this club.
Co-owning Wrexham FC has been the ‘great privilege’ of Ryan’s life (Picture: André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)
You first tasted Europe in your younger days as a backpacker. What do you remember?
I remember many things I don’t want in print! I can say this. I was kicked out of Amsterdam. Do you know how hard it is to get kicked out of Amsterdam? I had to be escorted to the train station and then asked to leave. I really crossed a lot of lines there. But I went all over the place – Italy, Greece, Belgium – just sleep wherever the hell you can.
What can you tell us about Deadpool 3?
Right now it’s just all Deadpool, Deadpool, Deadpool. That’s all I’ve been working on. I mean, Deadpool is staring at me right now [he turns his camera to show a Deadpool doll]. That’s the full-time job right now and it will be probably for the next two years.
Spirited is in cinemas and on Apple TV+ from Friday
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