Ryan Reynolds is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood right now, but while he’s the star of the highest-grossing live-action movie of 2024, he does so much more. He owns multiple companies and a professional soccer club, but he says the thing that he's "most proud of" is his work as a producer.
Ryan Reynolds has been named Producer of the Year by THR and in an interview he says that his desire to become a producer came from the fact that his name would often suffer due to bad movies he was in (the bomb that was Green Lantern is specifically mentioned). This was true even when, as an actor, he had less to do with the finished product than others. Reynolds said…
I love that we get to talk about producing, because of all my accomplishments, that’s what I’m most proud of. I could act in big or small movies and if those movies don’t work out, the consequences don’t always fall on the director. Oftentimes, it’s my name associated with the failure.
It seems that since Reyolds realized he was going to get the praise or the blame either way, he should at least be responsible for the result. This led to him producing the original Deadpool, the first of his feature films where he was also a producer. Reynolds credits a former co-star Denzel Washington. The duo appeared in the 2012 action movie Safe House, with words of wisdom that led him toward producing his films. He said…
That happened a number of times, and it changed something in me. I’m more passionate about storytelling than I am about acting. If I win, great. If I lose, I get to also feel like I was the architect of my own demise. The first time that happened in the most full-throated way was in producing the first Deadpool. That was where I found my voice. I worked with Denzel Washington years ago — not to name drop — and he said something so wise and simple: ‘If you don’t trust the pilot, don’t get in the plane.’
Safe House isn't one of the more memorable films in the career of either Ryan Reynolds or Denzel Washington. However, it seems the movie was a formative experience for Reynolds. Denzel likely remembers the film for other reasons. Washington received a pair of black eyes from Ryan Reynolds filming a fight scene in the movie.
Denzel Washington knows a thing or two about producing and acting. He also produces many of his own films, including 2017’s Fences in which Washington was nominated for two Oscars, one for lead actor of the film, and another for Best Picture, as one of the movie’s producers.
Not everybody wants to be the “pilot” in this case, but it seems Reynolds is more than happy to take ownership and control. Reynolds says he has “skin in the game” and he cares about making quality movies. It sounds like he took Denzel Washington’s words to heart. He knows that if he leads by example, everybody else will trust him, which helps them all make the best product possible.
