Ryan Reynolds finally serves up his 'risque,' odd 'Deadpool'
Ryan Reynolds should have no reason to be wide-eyed awake at night.
Life is pretty sweet for 2010's Sexiest Man Alive (according to People), happily married to the most beautiful woman alive, actress Blake Lively, with whom he has a 14-month-old daughter, James.
But Reynolds, 39, cops to being obsessed to the point of insomnia about finally sticking a landing in the comic-book movie world with Marvel's Deadpool, It's been an 11-year journey that started with Reynolds "falling in love" with the wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking character.
After delays and dead ends before getting a studio greenlight, the journey is expected to end in box-office glory when the movie arrives in theaters Friday.
“My poor wife watched me lay awake at night, trying to figure out ways to make this bigger and better,” says Reynolds, calling from his New York home. “I cannot say I’ve had a normal night’s sleep shooting this. There’s a lot riding on this for me personally.”
Review: 'Deadpool' kills with its daffy humor
This is especially true considering Reynolds' track record. His first foray in the superhero leading-man stakes ended with the poorly received Green Lantern in 2011. Even bringing the Deadpool character onto the big screen started with a criticized performance in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine — where Ryan's fast-talking Deadpool appeared with his mouth literally sewn shut. Fans were not happy.
"Yeah, that was tough. But at the time, I thought, 'If I don't play Deadpool, then I'm never going to play him,' " says Reynolds. "I remember thinking we're really going to (prolonged expletive for anger) off the fans here."
The expletives are key onscreen and clearly seep into Reynolds' dialogue offscreen, too. ("That's what those star and money-sign keys are for," Reynolds says helpfully after one potty-mouthed tirade.)
Deadpool doesn't cross the R-rating line, it sambas over it. Reynolds, a producer on the project, acknowledges that the restricted rating severely curtailed the film's budget (an estimated $58 million), which was "tantamount to the laser hair removal costs of most superhero movies."
But Deadpool has dominated the ticket sale website Fandango for two weeks, outselling Marvel's 2015 PG-13 hit Ant-Man. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.com, says Deadpool "could easily" beat $50 million for the three-day weekend.
"So I wasn't crazy in wanting a risqué Marvel superhero movie after all," says Reynolds. "Stick to your guns and create someone that makes you laugh or cry, as opposed to thinking, 'Are women 35 or older going to like this?' "
T.J. Miller, Deadpool's equally foul-mouthed sidekick Weasel, says a big appeal is seeing Reynolds inhabit the oddball character.
'Deadpool' presents a movie superhero unlike any other
"Deadpool is a magnification of Ryan Reynolds' actual personality," Miller says. "There's wisecracking, nihilism and silliness mixed with some darkness. People looked for the right property to use Ryan properly. This is that perfect fit."
With Deadpool 2 already in the works, Reynolds says he's waiting "until the chickens actually hatch" before penciling in true rest.
"I"m going to remain sleeping upright until then," he says. "But I'd be a knucklehead not to return to something like this. I'd be thrilled to go on this adventure again."