By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Most people would think that Ryan Reynolds is a comedy expert, especially after the Hollywood comedian made us all laugh Deadpool and Wolverine. However, he was recently called back to Cancer and grief goes, and Reynolds would just talk about playing Deadpool. The Marvel Cinematic Universe actor responded with a post about how comedy is just as hard to perform as drama, but here’s the thing: Ryan Reynolds is completely wrong in his attempt to defend comedy.
Ryan Reynolds goes on defense
In the original X post, @drivcmycar alluded to the film We live in timeby contrasting how Andrew Garfield told Variety how he portrayed the heartbreaking struggle of a man whose wife decides to forego cancer treatment and how the other actor simply talked about playing Deadpool. This prompted Ryan Reynolds to post a lengthy response “in defense of comedy,” claiming that it’s just as difficult as drama, but we don’t realize it because “comedy is made to look and feel effortless.” , but not drama. However, when it comes to the incredibly successful prankster, we have to disagree. Good dramatic acting has always been and always will be more difficult than good comedic acting.
Ryan Reynolds’ basic thesis here is that dramas are designed to make us “see that it’s hard,” and that comedies require just as much work, but we don’t notice it because they look easy and effortless when done right become. However, you can see how wrong he is just by thinking about your own life. For example, you’ve almost certainly made people laugh with a good joke every now and then, but how often have you brought people to tears with displays of raw emotion?
Obviously Ryan Reynolds is a funny guy. With the Deadpool films he proved that comedy and superhero cinema go together like peanut butter and jelly. But as Deadpool, he doesn’t even have to show his face most of the time, and at the beginning and end of his funniest scenes he just combines a few vulgar jokes with body language. Even if we limit ourselves to the world of Marvel films, it is clear that his Deadpool performance does not really match Anthony Hopkins’ pathos as Odin, Willem Dafoe’s mania as the Green Goblin or Robert Downey Jr.’s complete transformation into Iron Man compare is.
Tough dramatic competition
When we leave the realm of superhero cinema, Ryan Reynolds’ defense of comedy becomes even more ridiculous. Does anyone think it’s harder to tell a funny joke behind a funnier mask than it was for Daniel-Day Lewis to portray Abraham Lincoln or for Jamie Foxx to portray Ray Charles? Is it harder to joke about Chimichangas than it was for Denzel Washington to appear in it? Training day or for Tom Hanks as an appearance Forrest Gump?
What’s notable is that these actors all won Best Actor, which brings me to my final point: How often does someone win the Oscar for Best Actor for a funny role, let alone a superhero role? The closest we’ve come in recent years to an Oscar was Joaquin Phoenix’s win jokerand he ironically earned this award by showing off his dramatic skills rather than just telling jokes. His performance in this film is proof that great actors can be both funny and dramatic, and Ryan Reynolds should note that Phoenix’s dramatic moments were obviously far more intense (“maximum effort,” if you will) than his deliberately bad stand-up comedy routines.
This is not intended as a criticism of Ryan Reynolds himself. He is a comedy legend and Deadpool and Wolverine remains one of the best films we’ve seen in years. But making an audience laugh is the easiest form of acting, especially when you have a team of production experts and Hollywood’s largest studio to help land every punch line. And until he does like Jim Carrey and shows us that he has true depth and range as an actor, he will remain a clown who simply dreams of being something more.