CEBU, Philippines – Red-hot actor Ryan Reynolds is set to enjoy his biggest year to date with star turns in Miramax Films’ ensemble comedy “Adventureland,” and Touchstone Pictures’ date-movie “The Proposal.” He has already shone in the blockbuster “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” as Deadpool earlier this year.
In “Adventureland,” he plays Mikel, a technician at a theme park, who falls for a much younger girl (Kristen Stewart), while in “The Proposal,” he portrays Sandra Bullock’s put-upon assistant Andrew who’s forced into a wedding engagement charade.
Question: Was it difficult to make such a roguish character so charming in “Adventureland”?
Ryan Reynolds: Yeah, it was fun. I liked that there is no real villains or heroes in this movie. I feel like it’s a lot like life, you know, people have complexities and they have their heroic moments and their villainous moments. I will say that with this cast I've never felt so old [Laughs]. It was a routine of humility. Obviously this guy is having a pretty inappropriate relationship with this very, very young girl, but the spirit on the set, it really felt like where I was eight or nine years ago. It was like a pretty cool place to be each day.
Q: What did you make of your co-star Kristen Stewart who’s suddenly huge?
Reynolds: Kristen is great. She’s really great. Obviously life has changed for her in a pretty drastic way since then. So it was kind of cool to see her talking about this thing called “Twilight” that she might do [Laughs].
Q: Are you still auditioning or you’re past that?
Reynolds: Truthfully, I haven't auditioned in a long, long time, but it’s never outside the realm of possibility. I mean if you want a film and they don’t want you, sometimes you have to go fight for it. Sometimes that ends up just being a meeting, just sitting down with them and just saying here is my vision for it and why I really love it. But for the most part, I think filmmakers gravitate towards actors that are as excited as they are about the film.
Q: You have another summer movie coming out with “The Proposal.” This is turning into a big year for you?
Reynolds: Yeah, it is. It’s definitely a big year for me – “Wolverine,” “Adventureland” and “The Proposal.” That’s a movie I loved. I got to work with Sandra Bullock, who has been a friend of mine for almost a decade, and that was kind of interesting to spend that time with her. But I have no control over release dates. I've been shooting for 15 months straight, and maybe I should have known they’d all be stacked up like this, but it’s a pretty interesting position to be in. I’m lucky, I have three completely different movies coming out. Each one is an entirely different genre unto itself. I feel really fortunate that I’m able to go from genre to genre.
Q: Having worked with Sandra now after knowing for so long, did you learn anything new about her working on this particular movie?
Reynolds: She has an ability to compress an enormous amount of emotion and information in a single look. I think that’s the magic of her. I used to think it was because she was the girl next door or she’s America’s sweetheart – but no, it’s the fact that she’s got some sort of weird, bizarre supernatural gift that I’m deeply envious of and would love to have some day. We've been friends for a long time, but we haven't been up in each other’s grill for 15 hours a day for three months. So thankfully, that all worked out well and she didn’t stick her three-legged dogs on me. [Laughs]
(Both distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, “Adventureland” opens exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas on July 22; while “The Proposal” opens across the Philippines on July 29.)