When Ryan Reynolds signed up to appear in the new X-Men flick opposite Hollywood hunk Hugh Jackman, the Vancouver-born actor knew the pressure was on for him to look buff. So the 32-year-old hit the gym in a big way.
Things were going great until one day Ryan bit off more than he could chew by inviting his Aussie co-star to be his training buddy for a session. "I did work out with him once and afterward I had to go seek the counsel of a medical professional," jokes the actor. "I was not in good shape after that, I mean he's doing something completely different."
To play mercenary Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan said he only had a short time to get in shape. "There's a huge challenge in having to do that, going from… zero to hero in five months," says Ryan. He admits, though, that: "It's a lot of fun. I stuck to my own kind of routine and I think I pulled it off."
Ryan, husband to Scarlett Johansson, is to reprise his role for an X-Men spin-off film about his character Deadpool, who starts out life as terminal cancer victim Wade Wilson.
The movie will explore the origins of the comic book anti-hero and his emergence as the sci-fi series' wise-cracking baddie after he submits himself to a secret government testing programme.
