Ryan Reynolds has time to defend the skills of comedy actors.
The “Deadpool” star responded to a tweet criticizing his inclusion in Variety’s “Actors on Actors” awards season roundtables. Reynolds is paired with Andrew Garfield, who will be speaking about his turn in drama “We Live in Time.” Meanwhile, Reynolds starred in “Deadpool & Wolverine” alongside Hugh Jackman.
“Andrew Garfield talking about playing a husband and father who’s wife decides to forgo cancer treatment and Ryan Reynolds talking about playing Deadpool,” one X user wrote about the slated December 9 “Actors on Actors” piece.
Yet that tweet garnered a response from Reynolds, who not only praised Garfield’s performance in “We Live in Time” but also spoke out on slighting comedy as a genre during awards season. (To note, Garfield and Reynolds are both part of the MCU, with Garfield having played Spider-Man, so at least they could discuss that together.)
“Andrew’s a genius. He and Florence are magic together in, ‘WE LIVE IN TIME.’ They’re heartbreaking and charming and spend the entire film in a high-wire act of humanity and constraint,” Reynolds wrote. “And yes I am Deadpool. BUT I will take a second and speak up in defense of comedy. Dramatic work is difficult. And we’re also meant to SEE it’s difficult which is one of the reasons it feels visceral and effective. Comedy is also very difficult. But has an added dimension in that it’s meant to look and feel effortless.”
Reynolds continued, “You intentionally hide the stitching and unstitching. I think both disciplines are beautiful. And both work beautifully together. Comedy and drama subsist on tension. Both thrive when subverting expectation. Both thrive backstopped by real emotion. And both are deeply subjective.”
He concluded, “Your favorite comedy might be ‘Anchorman.’ Mine might be Lars Von Trier’s ‘Melancholia.’”
And if Reynolds’ favorite comedy is the twisted existential drama “Melancholia,” then his “Actors on Actors” will no doubt be interesting….
This isn’t the only “Actors on Actors” controversy this year: “The Apprentice” and “A Different Man” star Sebastian Stan said that no other actor wanted to be paired with him as the discussion would involve the Trump biopic.
Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh confirmed to IndieWire that “what Sebastian said is accurate: We invited him to participate in ‘Actors on Actors,’ the biggest franchise of awards season, but other actors didn’t want to pair with him because they didn’t want to talk about Donald Trump.”
Stan’s former “I, Tonya” co-star Paul Walter Hauser later announced that he would be willing to be on “Actors on Actors” with Stan, if asked.
