Deadpool's Ryan Reynolds Kept Passing Out When Shooting His Scariest Movie
Ryan Reynolds’s most terrifying movie experience went rather smoothly: apart from losing his cool and passing out, he shot his buried-alive scenes in (almost) one take.
Without a doubt, most of us know Ryan Reynolds from his lead role in the Deadpool franchise. However, despite what the actor’s critics say, Reynolds has quite a unique portfolio of other works, and it isn’t only limited to questionable superhero outings ( like his old Deadpool and Green Lantern). He has some time for experiments, too!
In his rather extensive track record, there is one movie experience Ryan Reynolds genuinely considers the scariest: 2010’s Buried. This film is as “chamber drama” as it gets: while others are restricted to a house or even a room, the action in Buried is confined to…a coffin. There’s literally Reynolds stuck in a coffin, nothing else.
The premise is that the actor’s character works as a truck driver in Iraq and, at one point in time, finds himself buried alive in an unknown location. All he has to work with are a lighter, a cell phone, and a modest supply of oxygen he still has left. In a desperate attempt to survive, he has to make do with what he’s got which isn’t much.
Ryan Reynolds admits he did pretty well filming this movie as most of it was shot in one take…kind of. Because sometimes, he’d just pass out from the lack-of-oxygen-induced panic — and even then, he’d rely on his trusty paper bag.
"Almost everything you see in the movie was one take with the exception of a couple of moments where I passed out. The thing I wasn't ready for or realized when I was shooting is when you're out of breath, and you're not moving to accommodate the increased oxygen in your blood, you pass out. <...> I had a paper bag and I would breathe into this paper bag as much as possible before the take," Reynolds explained to David Letterman.
This doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience in the slightest, does it? Luckily, it was a controlled environment, so Ryan Reynolds was in no real danger — but being stuck in the confinement of a buried coffin is probably really low on all of our lists of dream jobs. Even with a paper bag.