Ryan Reynolds Paid Out of Pocket to Make First Deadpool Happen

In a new interview this week, Ryan Reynolds let fans in behind the curtain to see what film production was like for the original Deadpool to promote the third film, Deadpool and Wolverine .

To promote his new film coming to theatres this week, Ryan Reynolds spoke to the New York Times (with Hugh Jackman) regarding everything Deadpool including production for Deadpool and Wolverine , and even gave fans a rare glimpse into what production was like on the original film. As expected, the original Deadpool had a tight budget before Disney got involved, and it took Reynolds over a decade to get the film made.

The original Deadpool allegedly had such a feeble budget Ryan Reynolds himself had to forgo much of his salary to have co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set with him. Reynolds explains, “No part of me was thinking when Deadpool was finally greenlit that this would be a success. I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen,” he then clarifies with, “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.” Interestingly enough, Reese and Wernick confirmed this back in 2016.

The writing duo said back in 2016 (in an episode of AMC’s Geeking Out ), “We were on set every day. Interestingly, Ryan wanted us there. We were on the project for six years. It was really a core creative team of us, Ryan, and the director, Tim Miller. Fox, interestingly, wouldn’t pay for us to be on set. Ryan Reynolds paid out of his own money, out of his own pocket.”

Reflecting on the first Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds also says, “It was a lesson in a couple of senses. I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money.” Reynolds also mentions that it allowed the team to focus on the character over the spectacle that comes with making a movie based on comic books.

Ryan Reynolds’ next film, Deadpool and Wolverine , lands in theatres globally on July 25.