Ryan Reynolds talks near death experience

Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds may be a superhero in the movies, but is it really that much of a stretch for him to think like one? By all accounts, no.

Having wrapped shooting on comic adap Green Lantern , Reynolds chatted with Total Film this week and revealed that a near-death experience helped him get into character for upcoming man-in-a-box drama Buried . Why? Because his impulsive wisecracking brought levity to the nail-biting situation.

“I can relate to humour in grim circumstances,” Reynolds says. “Years ago, I was 20 and I was skydiving. My friend John had packed the parachute that I was using.

“The parachute failed – it just made a lot of noise instead of engaging the wind where it would actually have a purpose! It spun me out of control and I remember saying out loud, ‘Was it something I said?’

“I remember that funny moment coming out in a very scary time before I pulled the reserve chute. That was something that was brought out a little bit in Buried . You can’t just be screaming the whole time. You have to have those little moments of humour – it gives the audience time to breathe.”

Clearly Reynolds is made to be a superhero – the man literally laughs in the face of danger.

Looking forward to Buried ? Talk to us below…

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.