Ryan's green revolution
RYAN Reynolds is only too aware of the responsibility that comes with bringing a superhero to life on screen.
The 34-year-old heart-throb, who made his comic book adaptation debut two years ago in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has now made his transition from comic actor to big-budget action man complete by squeezing into the tight latex suit of the Green Lantern.
"There's an expectation by the fans of these kinds of films. They want you to look a little larger than life and it's our job to try to do that," says Reynolds, who made his name in romcoms and beat off competition from Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake for the Green Lantern role.
To play the pilot-turned-interstellar police officer, the actor endured hours of training for elaborate fight scenes and ate little more than "wood chips", he quips, to buff up.
"I had to wear that suit, so I put my required time in the gym," he says, his toned physique hidden today beneath a black v-neck jumper.
While the Canadian star had always been a fan of his X-Men character Wade Wilson (who becomes hi-tech mercenary Deadpool), he took a bit more persuading to take on the role of cocky pilot Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. Bring on Casino Royale director Martin Campbell.
"I have trepidation in playing any role - but you don't get in the plane unless you have a great pilot. Martin was attached and the opportunity to work with him was huge for me," he says.
"The first time I met Martin, I didn't have much interest in doing it, but as I learned more I really saw the appeal. He's a Han Solo type and who wouldn't want to play that?"
Hal is a gifted but arrogant test pilot who becomes the first-ever human recruit to the Green Lantern Corps, sworn to protect peace and justice in the universe.
Each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers (such as flying), creates a protective force field and generates his tight green rubber uniform.
With the encouragement of his childhood sweetheart and fellow pilot Carol (Gossip Girl's Blake Lively), Hal masters his new powers to take on a new enemy, Parallax, who threatens to destroy the balance of power in the universe.
Reynolds says Green Lantern will stand out from the recent slew of comic book adaptations because it's more light-hearted.
"A lot of the current iterations of superheroes are a little bit darker and more serious in tone. But this is a bit of a throwback in the sense that there's a lot of fun with the character.
"Hal's witty, he's that guy who can throw a punch, tell a joke and kiss a girl. There's something really iconic about him because anything's possible.
"There's no particular narrative in this film because we're telling an origins story, so it was a case of distilling what it is the fan boys love about this character and making sure it could be found up on screen, because if they love it, there's a good chance a broader audience will too."
Green Lantern couldn't be more different from Reynolds's previous film Buried, a thriller about a truck driver in Iraq who's buried alive, although he jokes: "I went from a small wooden box to a large blue box."
It's one of the paradoxes of movie-making that the more fantastical and imaginative the world created on screen, the more dull the film can be to make as the cast are confined to working with a blue screen.
"I'd never worked on a movie that required this much imagination," says Reynolds. "It really felt like being a kid again. Everything you're seeing in this world I have to imagine and express through my eyes for the audience, and that was a big challenge."
The star faced an even bigger challenge - overcoming his fear of flying through the air to film the scenes where Hal's ring gives him the power to swoop through space.
"I was initiated early," he says with a chuckle. "On the third day, they basically fired me 200 feet into the air at 60 feet per second and that got me over it right quick. Without an adult diaper or anything... I just did it the regular way.
"After a while, you're playing on these wires, they're so articulate - and I was getting quite cocky by the end. I was wondering if we could find some way to actually transport me back to the hotel on the wires. I loved it - the best way to get over the fear is just to do it."
The hard work more than paid off when he saw the finished, fully computer-generated, 3D article. "I was practically weeping, it was pretty incredible."
Born the son of a Mountie and the youngest of four brothers in Vancouver, Reynolds has come a long way since his first forays into Canadian TV in teen soap Hillside.
"As a kid I wanted to be Tom Hanks. I thought, 'How hard can it be? You get on sitcom, you branch out into movies and you've got it made'."
His breakout role came in 2002 as the titular student in Van Wilder: Party Liaison and a string of romcoms followed including Just Friends and Definitely, Maybe. But by 2008, he was still mostly known for being married to Scarlett Johansson and being Alanis Morissette's ex.
His on-screen chemistry with Sandra Bullock in last year's romcom The Proposal confirmed his leading man appeal, and just before his amicable split from Johansson in December he proved his acting mettle by shouldering the entire weight of thriller Buried as the only actor on screen.
As far as Reynolds is concerned, it's all been a happy accident: "I've never had a game plan."
He's been voted Sexiest Man Alive for three years running, but doesn't really understand what makes him sexy.
"It's individual for everybody. I always think that self-deprecation can be charming and sexy, but I don't know," he says sheepishly.
He's "not interested" in dating again six months after the break-up of his two-year marriage, although Johansson is rumoured to be seeing actor Sean Penn.
Instead, Reynolds is focusing his energies on his burgeoning career.
He's back on screen in comedy The Change-Up in August, he's just finished filming with Denzel Washington on thriller Safe House, and his X-Men spin-off Deadpool, featuring his favourite comic book character, is in the works.
It's definitely Reynolds's time to shine.
