Ryan Reynolds reveals he gave up his pay for 'Deadpool' success while promoting 'Deadpool & Wolverine'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: While promoting 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' the upcoming third installment of 'Deadpool' with co-star Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds reportedly disclosed details about his salary for the first movie during a video call with Jackman in late June.
The 47-year-old Canadian actor and his 55-year-old Australian co-star appear in the upcoming Marvel Studios film, 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' Both actors discussed their experiences portraying superheroes in a recent New York Times article.
Hugh Jackman agrees to reprise 'Wolverine' role in Reynolds' 'Deadpool'
As per the article, the success formula for the film combines Hugh Jackman's 'Wolverine' with Ryan Reynolds' hit comic franchise.
Despite the potential, the film faced challenges as Jackman initially resisted joining, wanting 'Logan' to be his final portrayal of Wolverine.
The Disney-Fox merger created new opportunities, but finding the right story was tough. However, in August 2022, Jackman agreed to return as Wolverine, excited to explore new aspects of the character.
"Not a single part of me thought Deadpool would be a success when it was finally greenlit," Reynolds admitted.
He added, "I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room."
Reynolds mentioned that giving up his pay, despite the tight budget, ultimately benefited the creative team.
"I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money. It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie," Reynolds noted.
"I was just so invested in every micro-detail of it and I hadn’t felt like that in a long, long time. I remembered wanting to feel that more — not just on Deadpool, but on anything," he then added.
What is the 'Deadpool & Wolverine' release date?
'Deadpool,' which premiered in February 2016, grossed nearly $783 million worldwide.
In the upcoming third installment of the franchise, Ryan Reynolds returns as the irreverent anti-hero, with Hugh Jackman reprising his iconic role as Wolverine.
'Deadpool & Wolverine' is set to hit theaters on July 26.
The much-awaited superhero sequel also features Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams, Matthew Macfadyen, and Jennifer Garner.
Reynolds also revealed to the NYT that his nine-year-old daughter, James, has already seen the upcoming R-rated film, along with his mother, Tammy Reynolds.
"Both of them were laughing their guts out, were feeling the emotion where I most desperately hoped people would be," he said.
"Well, I'm not saying that other people should do this, but my nine-year-old watched the movie with me and my mom, who's in her late 70s, and it was just was one of the best moments of this whole experience for me," Reynolds told newspaper.
