The mediocre movie that broke Ryan Reynolds’ neck: “Let’s let the stunt guy do it”
If you’d told someone back in 2011 that Ryan Reynolds would end up one of the highest-grossing action stars of his generation, they’d have probably laughed you out the room.
Up until then, his biggest successes were rom-coms like The Proposal and Definitely, Maybe. He had dipped his toe into other genres, but let’s be honest – that rarely went well. No need to dredge up X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Green Lantern, is there?
Things changed immeasurably for the better when the Canadian slipped into the red and black suit of Deadpool. Once Reynolds was able to let loose as the real version of that character, he became hot property almost overnight. Alongside his jaunts for Marvel, his successes in the action realm include 6 Underground, Red Notice, Free Guy, and the two ‘Hitman’s Bodyguard’ movies. They haven’t all been good movies, but they’ve certainly got the box office receipts to quell any doubters.
Being an all-out man of action these days, Reynolds knows all too well the risks associated with making these kinds of films. In an interview with Collider, he explained how one seemingly innocent sequence almost left him with a life-changing injury.
“I did a film a year and a half, two years ago called Safe House and my neck was killing me after the movie,” he said. “I went six or seven months and I finally went and got an x-ray. The doctor laughed and said, ‘You broke your neck!’ I was like, ‘What?’ My C5 and 6 were broken! You think you’re an actor and you think the stunt guys do it all, but you get beaten up so now I’m a little bit more, ‘Let’s let the stunt guy do it. I’m good. I’m fine.’”
Safe House came out in 2012, directed by Daniel Espinosa. You might know him as the bloke behind Morbius – but try not to hold that against him. In this one, Reynolds plays a CIA agent stationed in South Africa, tasked with guarding a safe house where a detainee (played by Denzel Washington) is being interrogated. It’s a fairly bog-standard action thriller that came and went without causing much of a stir. Hardly worth snapping your neck to get to the cinema for.
Reynolds is far from the only star to seriously injure themselves on set. Buster Keaton famously broke his neck performing a stunt for Sherlock Jr., alongside the countless other injuries he sustained in his search for slapstick immortality. Charlize Theron also suffered a nasty neck injury making Æon Flux, which was neither a critical nor a commercial hit. At least Safe House made some money.
Sure, it might sound great in an interview when someone like Tom Cruise goes on about doing all his own stunts, but let’s be honest – even the simplest action sequence can be downright dangerous. Stunt performers are properly trained, razor-sharp professionals whose job is to make the tough stuff look easy. They’re some of the biggest unsung heroes in the whole film industry. There’s absolutely no need for actors to play the hero – just let the experts get on with it.
