Mr. Reynolds, the holidays are just around the corner and Spirited is the first big Christmas movie of the year. This begs the question: What does Christmas mean to you?
The best thing about Christmas is, of course, when the family gets together and celebrates.
Whereby the day itself sometimes becomes too much of a barter transaction, which is all about the gifts.
That's why I love the weeks before even more.
We live in New York, where you can experience wonderful things with the children during the Advent season.
As a young boy from Vancouver, I never dreamed that I would take my kids to see the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center during the Christmas season.
Do you have a particularly fond memory of one of the past Christmas celebrations?
I especially like to think back to the Christmases when I was a kid in Vancouver, when it snowed and I romped outside with my brothers.
What could be nicer than when children try to kill themselves with frozen water?
Although I was the youngest of four boys, and therefore more of a walking target than a real opponent.
But rarely have I had more fun!
"Spirited" is based on the famous Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Weren't you concerned that it might have been filmed too many times already?
I only think about things like that when I'm also responsible as a producer for a project from the start.
However, unlike the Deadpool films, Free Guy and Adam Project, that was not the case here.
When I am asked to be an actor, other things come first for me.
What attracted me here was the chance to work with Will Ferrell, who I admire.
For me, at least in my lifetime, there is no one who has done more comedy than him!
Especially because so much vulnerability shines through in his joke.
He was the reason why I said yes to "Spirited" straight away.
It was only afterwards that I realized that this was a musical and that I had a real problem.
Is it that much harder to train for a musical than for a superhero movie?
Oh god, definitely.
I've been shooting action films and comic adaptations since I was 20.
Working on it has long since become second nature to me.
If I'm asked to shoot a fight scene, it's probably like asking a dancer to give a step number.
I've internalized that so much that it doesn't take me long to memorize choreographies, and I can also improvise and react spontaneously to mistakes.
Singing and dancing, on the other hand, are completely foreign to me.
It's tedious, hard work for me, and if I make a mistake it throws me off completely in an instant.
I won't say I didn't enjoy it.
But my respect for it was even greater.
You're good friends with Hugh Jackman, a real musical expert. Couldn't he give you a few tips?
Let's put it this way: Hugh's help wasn't really helpful.
He said I should just listen to the beat and the rest would work out.
But my problem was that I didn't necessarily hear the beat.
Did you learn anything about the musical genre while filming that surprised you?
I've definitely gained a whole new level of respect for dancers, whose talent isn't always valued as it should be in our industry.
Are you now in the mood for more dancing and singing?
Phew, I'm not sure I want to do another musical any time soon.
But I would think it would be damn cool to see a musical scene in a Deadpool movie.
That could be great fun, right?
Four years ago, my collaborators Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and I wrote a Deadpool Christmas movie.
Unfortunately, nothing came of it because Disney bought 20th Century Fox and a lot was restructured.
But who knows, maybe one day we can shoot it after all.
Now that we're back to the subject of Christmas, let's talk a little more about Dickens and his story.
It's a timeless story, also because we've all met more than enough people like the protagonist.
Unfortunately, there are many unhappy curmudgeons who turn a blind eye to the good things in the world.
Therefore, it is an everlasting joy to see such a person converted.
Especially since this template can always be told differently.
In the absence of Christmas spirits like in Dickens and in "Spirited", what advice would you give such grumps to start seeing the bright side of life?
The trouble is, assholes and misanthropes aren't exactly open to unsolicited advice.
That's why it probably wouldn't do much to try to lecture them.
For someone to change so fundamentally, it takes a drastic moment of self-knowledge.
This is sort of what the ghosts are used as a metaphor for in Dickens.