The director Ryan Reynolds told to go fuck themselves: “You can’t rehearse that”
Is there any actor in Hollywood right now more fascinating than Ryan Reynolds?
A shameless self-promoter, a charismatic leading man, and a savvy businessman, he occupied an entirely unique position in the modern cinematic landscape, often accused of playing himself in every single movie, but we know that he’s capable of much, much more, but while he’s raking it in doing what he’s doing, don’t expect him to change any time soon.
This is a shame, because it means we probably won’t be getting another film like Buried, a horror movie starring Reynolds as Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq, who after getting kidnapped by a terrorist organisation, wakes up in a coffin buried underground, with just a lighter, a mobile phone, and an assortment of other random items by his side.
The movie then plays out in real time, as outside forces work to rescue Conroy while the terrified victim tries to find his own way out, resulting in a masterpiece of tension, claustrophobia, and sheer primal horror.
The movie was directed by Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés, this being Cortés’ English-language debut and the first time he had worked with a major Hollywood name, and you’d have thought this would have been a joyous moment, but according to an interview Reynolds gave to Entertainment Weekly, he didn’t exactly make his new boss feel welcome. When the director informed his star that he’d need to rehearse being stuck in the coffin for a week before shooting began, Reynolds simply told him to “go fuck yourself”.
“You can’t rehearse that,” he continued. “You’ve just got to believe it. If I believe it, you’ll believe it, and we go. That’s what we did. I still, to this day, don’t know why we shot it in Barcelona, but we did. I was like, this could’ve been shot in my living room. I’m happy to host!”
Reynolds has spoken numerous times about how making Buried almost broke him. Seven different coffins were built for filming, including one called ‘The Joker’, because it was considered such a wildcard. The walls of these fake caskets could be removed to allow for more versatility while filming, but spending 16 days mostly stuck in a cramped box designed for a corpse took a massive toll on the actor’s psyche. It didn’t help that he was the only character featured on screen, which contributed to a sense of isolation.
It’s hard to argue with the end result, though, because Buried is a genius movie; a concept that could have easily backfired, executed to perfection, and from a pure acting standpoint, it’s the greatest film of Reynolds’ entire career, but unfortunately, despite great reviews and a decent box office return, the actor decided he was done making these sorts of movies.
Given what he put himself through to make Buried happen, you can understand why Reynolds lost his temper. He was also absolutely spot on about filming the thing in his living room. The movie is set entirely underground; why did he need to fly all the way to Barcelona? Hopefully, he didn’t fly coach. Now that’s claustrophobic.
