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Ryan Reynolds’ Disappearing Act
That role may have come in The Nines, an ambitious indie film, co-starring Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy, in theatres this month. The film, directed by John August, who wrote Charlie’s Angels and Big Fish, is built around three divergent story lines that unite into a single narrative. Each star plays three distinct characters; Reynolds is Gary, a TV actor, Gavin, a documentary writer, and Gabriel, a video-game designer. August cast him on the basis of a single lunch meeting. “I saw Ryan in The Amityville Horror,” says August. “Though the film was not fantastic, I could tell he was dedicated to the role. You could see him working his ass off.” The two forged a relationship that allowed August to draw out what may be Reynolds’ best performance yet. (He reportedly did The Nines for scale – about $2,200 per week.) The Nines premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January to an enthusiastic reception. Though critics have described the film as too complex for mainstream audiences, Reynolds has received high praise, with Variety reviewer Dennis Harvey calling his performance “sensational.” He wrote, “Since it’s long been clear he can do comedy, and it seems his dramatic range is broad as well, the question now isn’t when he’ll become an A-list star, but rather what kind he’ll turn out to be.” Harvey aptly describes the Nines roles as “a chance like he’s never had before.” What’s remarkable is Reynolds’ choice to seize this chance, eschewing lucrative genre pictures for character-based work. He has a small tattoo on his left wrist that says, “Know Thyself” – “It was about disappointing my parents,” Reynolds says of the nine-year-old decoration – and it’s this self-knowledge that has led him to pursue richer creative dividends than previous films offered. He confides that in several instances he didn’t bother to see the final cuts of some of his movies. He turned down more money than he’d ever seen to appear in the Van Wilder sequel. And whether or not the studios find financing for The Flash, the comic book adaptation to which his name was once attached, Reynolds has lost interest. “I have no desire to wear a red leotard for three pictures over 10 years.” That move is shrewd, too. By stepping out of himself, he’s likely ensuring the longevity of his career. His celebrity has come easily. Recently named one of People magazine’s Hottest Bachelors and now linked with Hollywood’s hottest babe, Reynolds as Reynolds – as the hero – is far more bankable than Reynolds as a challenging character in a film. But as he ages and his pecs soften, it’s his acting chops that will sustain him. Not that he’s heading down the same path as, say, Steve Buscemi or J.T. Walsh, whose films we remember but whose names we often forget. He is more likely following Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, versatile actors whose ability to play characters made them movie stars. Granted, Reynolds is starting off as a movie star, not an unknown playing a naive college grad in The Graduate or a small-time Mafioso in Mean Streets. Only now, number-crunching studios prefer safer bets like Reynolds, who come with box office credentials and broad appeal. August provides a more contemporary comparison: George Clooney. “I can see Ryan doing what George is doing, moving between both comedy and drama and, at the same time, taking a bigger creative role. But I don’t know if he knows that yet.” What Reynolds does know is that it’s the process that matters. “I don’t want to invest too much in the outcome,” he says of his upcoming movies. “For me, the crux of the experience is doing the film.” Which is why he can’t lose. There might be a narcissistic or wilful element to some stars’ ascendance, but his climb will have nothing to do with crude ambition; he just wants his day job to be interesting. |
