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RYAN REYNOLDS: That might be worthy of its20/20special.
Its a fun fact, but theres also something nice about an airy bottom.
You want to feel the horse under you.
‘Spirited’, from left: Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Justin Paul and Benj PasekApple+/Getty
Also, they say the perineum is the third eye.
JUSTIN PAUL: Well, um, did you pronounce that correctly?
Im Canadian, so we say things funny.
(L-R) Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell in ‘Spirited’Claire Folger /© Apple TV+ /Courtesy Everett Collection
What are you doing?
Youve never done this before.
Youre outside of your lane.
That was probably the biggest barrier to entry for me.
I cant speak for Will, but the thing is, the song Good Afternoon was … fun.
I got to really hide behind a sort of a Dick Van Dyke-era Cockney accent.
I felt a little bit more full-throated when I took the leap and sang those parts.
But the tap dancing?
I would say was the hardest part for both Will and I.
When we started the movie, we categorically said we would not do tap.
I dont know who crumbled first, but someone did.
And the next thing I know we were doing tap in in Good Afternoon.
But Im so thrilled we did it.
It has been immortalized on film.
Im not sure Ill ever have to do it again.
We had an incredible teacher in Chloe Arnold.
DEADLINE:Benj and Justin, you worked with Hugh Jackman on The Greatest Showman.
Ryan here will be working with him soon again.
They are pseudo-feuding online all the time.
Compare and contrast their musical abilities.
PASEK: There was a support group for this.
Oh, we could never do such a thing.
REYNOLDS: We could never do such a thing!
But they do it with me all the time.
They fall into my arms when they see him.
Oh, thank God.
They just get weak.
So maybe, maybe there was a little bit of musical bug he caught.
You tell us, Ryan.
Hes good at it.
Its in his bones.
It feels like something he was born to do.
And hes just a maestro at that as well.
He is at the point where he must be stopped.
I dont know whos gonna do it but someone should.
Because he believes that Ryan will be otherwise insufferable when they work onDeadpool 3.
What chance do I have of putting you over the top?
REYNOLDS: Well, Mike Fleming, Deadlines a pretty damn powerful platform.
Ive been an avid reader for, for many, many years post the Nikki Finke era.
REYNOLDS:You know, we all got our own little bag of rocks to carry, Mike.
PAUL: You know, we work closely with Hugh Jackman and have to deal with just that.
[Weve decided] its the way life deals the cards.
Sometimes you just keep telling the dealer, hit me.
Some of us bust.
Especially while they are dancing?
PAUL: Hes not kidding.
But actually its such a gift when youre getting to write and know who youre writing for.
And obviously, you know, the bonus is when its someone is as freakishly talented as Ryan.
We have this built-in litmus test.
Weve seen and admired their work, we know what they do best.
And the talents are pretty unlimited.
Some days thats hard because Ryan can make anything funny.
So youre like, is the line funny, or something Ryan will probably make funny?
Its great, sort of hearing it in their voices.
When youre starting with a blank page and it could become anything, any parameters are so helpful.
PAUL: Ryan was a collaborator in so many ways.
The song idea for Good Afternoon was his.
The line existed in the original Charles Dickens book.
When Ebenezer Scrooge would slam the door on folks he didnt like, hed say, Good afternoon.
They were involved before I was, and to me that was the selling point.
DEADLINE:What made you jump in?
REYNOLDS: Getting older.
And realizing you cant be good at anything unless youre willing to be bad at it initially.
Embracing that weirdly frees you up.
Aside from the obscene privilege of working with Justin and Benj, Id always wanted to work with Will.
Id struggle to find another comedic actor whos contributed more to the lexicon than Will Ferrell.
It was great advice.
I had multiple pilots here, including our director Sean Anders.
DEADLINE:TheJokersequel is being done as a musical.
Is it inevitable that you and Jackman bringDeadpoolandWolverineinto the tuner genre?
REYNOLDS: I dont know.
I would have trouble singing as Im gargling his blood [laughs].
No, well see.
It was during Good Afternoon, with Will and me.
Its an enormous dance number with pretty much every single dancer we had in the company.
And massive, broad single camera takes where everything had to go right before you could move on.
But it was just take after take after take where something would go wrong.
I remember when we finally got the one.
We didnt even need to hear someone else tell us.
I could feel Wills ribs cracking under my hug.
We embraced each other with such fervor.
I feel like we may have spiritually traded places.
It was one of the best moments of the entire film for us.
We were in winter clothes, its the middle of July in Boston.
DEADLINE:Benj and Justin, how was that moment for you, watching Fred and Ginger nail it?
Thats what were looking forward to.
DEADLINE:Are you daring Ryan and Will to do it on live TV at theOscars?
And I dont know.
You know, what, what could that look?
DEADLINE:What could go wrong?
REYNOLDS: Would you like the answer alphabetically, or chronologically?
PASEK:The Greatest Showmancame about because I know Hugh performed on the Oscars.
Larry Mark was one of the producers, and they started thinking about the movie for the first time.
And serve as fodder for the cynical live blog I do on Deadline with Joe Utichi.
REYNOLDS: I cant imagine hosting the Oscars, where the ultimate win for me would be breaking even.
What do you have to gain there?
Thats a tough job.
I have such admiration for the folks to step up and do that.
Hey and they always do it well.
