Ryan Reynolds learned a valuable lesson from the filmmaker behind romantic comedy classics Bridget Jones’s Diary and Love Actually.
The Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds revealed the advice that acclaimed screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, 69, once shared with him.
“I remember he once said to me when I was very young — I was like 40,” the actor, 49, said, as the live audience laughed, while speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City on Nov. 18.
“He said every character has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. [The advice] really kind of stuck with me,” Reynolds continued, before explaining how he has applied the words of wisdom in the advertising space to previously promote brands like Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile.
“I sort of brought that even into that space with, ‘How do you do that in 30 seconds or 15 seconds as well?’ ” he added. “I really do believe that too much time and too much money will murder creativity — it will just kill it.”
Before and after mentioning the Notting Hill and Genie screenwriter, Ryan Reynolds discussed how he uses humor strategically in the ad space.
“Well, humor and emotion are the two feelings that I think travel the most,” The Proposal actor said, adding, “Humor works so well, so does emotion. But if you get them together, it really, really just creates togetherness. It creates that feeling that we’re all right now, we’re not divided.”
During his chat at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit, Ryan Reynolds also opened up about “soft parenting” his four kids with wife Blake Lively.
“Soft parenting is new, right? I didn’t have that,” he said, before adding, “If you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions. You really kind of work from a place that isn’t fight or flight. You actually get to be thoughtful, and you get to think about everybody in the room.”
Reynolds and Lively, 38, are parents to James, 10, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 2.