Reynolds comes of age in comedic performance
By Nicole Rodriguez
He's not the type of guy you'd expect to be an actor. Sure, he's got the killer good looks and winning smile, but Ryan Reynolds lacks the self-important stride in his walk and the almost cocky sense of self-assurance held by most of Hollywood's elite. In fact, as he walks into the hotel suite in mismatched pinstriped pants and faded button-down shirt, he looks more like an average Joe than a leading man.
"I'm a little insecure," Reynolds admits with a shy smile. "I've definitely got a list of things that keep me awake at night."
Not that Reynolds should be insecure in the slightest. Lately, his career has been soaring to new heights, mainly due to his starring role in the hit television series "Two Guys and a Girl," and fueled even more by last week's release of National Lampoon's Van Wilder.
Reynolds began his life in Vancouver, Canada, the son of a wholesale food seller and a retail store saleswoman. After graduating from a city college in Vancouver (It was nothing like (Wilder's) Coolidge," Reynolds jokes, "it was like you sent three proofs of purchase from a Captain's Crunch box and got a degree"). Reynolds went on to do some improvisational comedy in Canada while working at a grocery store from midnight to 6 a.m. to make ends meet. His career didn't get it's jump start until he and a buddy decided to move to Los Angeles "on a whim," and he landed the role of Berg on ABC's "Two Guys and Girl."
In his latest project, Reynolds stars in the title role as a 25-year-old college undergraduate who just can't get his act together enough to graduate.
"When I got the second draft (of the script), what initially clicked in me was that it felt like a Ferris Bueller for the twenty-first century," Reynolds says. "And I thought that I would love to be a part of something like that, to be able to leave a legacy like that. And to have that coupled with National Lampoon, well that was just like a dream come true for me."
When asked what makes this movie any different than the millions of teen movies that have been recently released, Reynolds simply comments, "Ours is funny. I've seen movies like this done many other times by many other people, but I feel like in a lot of those comedies people start firing blanks everywhere, and there's no sort of rhyme or reason � Ours has some of that gross-out stuff that you're used to in young comedies, but really it's mostly a set-up/payoff quality to it, so I think that makes it a little more valuable."
He also adds that it is important to realize "you're walking into National Lampoon's Van Wilder, not National Lampoon's Citizen Kane... Obviously this isn't Sense and Sensibility so don't expect to judge it on that same level."
At 25, Reynolds, who is already scheduled to begin shooting his next film Hating Her later this year, embraces his promising career with a charming combination of enthusiasm and amazement. "At this point, if they never release [Van Wilder], it's worth it to me just to have seen people's reactions to these pre-screenings. I went to a screening at UCLA and it was just incredible to see everyone react so positively."
When asked about his future in acting, Reynolds turns a tad more serious: "Studios have already pigeonholed me because they've seen Van Wilder and they're pitching me other comedies � But that's up to me to change. If they want to keep seeing you in the same type of comedy, you have to take a supporting role in a drama and edge your way in there. It's entirely up to me. I'd love to have a well-rounded career. But whatever happens, happens. I'm just happy to be working."