Why ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Gave Ryan Reynolds a ‘Low-Grade Panic Attack’ (Exclusive)

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman sat down with Extra’s Mona Kosar Abdi in New York to talk about ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’

Hugh recalled the moment he realised he had to be a part of the film, saying, “I was driving in my car and literally a question popped into my head: ‘If you could do anything, what would you do?’ That’s what came to mind. Yeah. I thought about it for a while and the minute I saw Deadpool 1, which is one of my favourite movies, all I could see was the two characters together. I could feel it, I could see it. It was so different from anything we’d done and anything I’d done as Wolverine.”

Jackman was hesitant because he had said “no” in the past and wanted to stick to it, “so I’m not doing it now.”

But the Wolverine actor had a change of heart: “I was like, ‘Oh man, I want this. I really want to do this.’ Every cell in my body was saying, ‘I want this showdown. I want those two characters. I want to be on set with these amazing people.’ So I pulled over to the side of the road and made a phone call. [Ryan]… And he said, ‘Yes.'”

“I felt like I’d won the lottery,” Ryan recalled. “I’m not kidding. Shawn [Levy] And I had a different pitch… When Hugh showed up with this, everybody immediately understood and focused. We understood the how and the why, and that’s so important to bringing this character back to life.”

He revealed, “What I don’t talk about is that I had mild panic attacks for a year while I was writing a script that had Wolverine in it. I mean, that was the scariest thing, because Wolverine basically only uses two words out of every 10 he needs to use. It’s very specific.”

He said fans can expect Wolverine to be “a little bit different, but still with all the things that we love about him, and also have a whole new side to him that I think people will be really excited to explore.”

Mona asked, “I feel like you guys really set the stage. I mean, I love your friendship off screen. We get to see it through your tweets and the fans get to enjoy it. Why do you think your friendship is so special?”

Ryan responded: “Honestly, deep down we tell each other everything. I think the real defining feature, like any great partnership or friendship, is that we genuinely want the other person to win.”

Hugh joked: “We’re really great friends, and I would say to anyone looking for real friendship, if you find a friend who’s really rich, that’s a really great thing.”

Mona continued, “You’ve said that Wolverine is a quiet man. You’ve also said that honesty is key in friendship. Does art imitate life? Do you ever tell Ryan to shut up sometimes?”

Hugh insisted, “Never… He makes me laugh and cry every day. Even now, that’s happened like five times today… I don’t think we’ve ever argued,” before teasing, “Our friendship is very shallow.”

Ryan interjected, “There was no real conflict, we just had a little disagreement about whether Lucky Charms cereal was a valid source of Vitamin C.” Hugh laughed, “It was when you were going off to do a movie somewhere and I said, ‘Can you look after my kids for six months?'”

“We’re lucky in that respect,” Ryan said.

Mona continued, “Honestly, your comedic timing in this film is perfect. I love that there’s a ‘Gossip Girl’ reference, so I felt like I was in on the inside joke. How do you strike that balance of winking at the audience in the know but not going too far?”

Ryan said, “The real reason is that when I was writing screenplays, I wasn’t writing comedies. When you write a movie, or a drama, or whatever you want to call it, the comedy comes later. So you go back and find a natural place for comedy.”

He said: “People think I do a lot of improvisation, and I do a little bit, but I also write a lot of stuff, like alternate jokes. [do] There are six or seven variations, which affect not only me but the rest of the cast. That’s the part of the job I like most – writing the script… The tension of trying to understand and solve the problem requires a lot of patience.”

Reynolds asserted, “I’m a naturally lazy writer. I don’t like it at first, but once I get hooked I never want to stop. Deadpool is unlike any other character, unlike any other world, so I just keep writing nonstop. I just feel it, but I want to keep it low key, not overdo it.”

The stars had fun quizzing each other on lines from past films. Take a look!