Oa Mama: My Trip To The Green Lantern Set

After leaving the art room, the group of us were led to small screening facility where we saw some test animation and very early sequences.  All of what we saw has since been released in finished form (check out my description of the reel at WonderCon.)  We had a nice chat with the producers (the Rings won't talk: boo!) and then, fresh from the blue screen area next door, in walked Ryan Reynolds.

He was back in his street clothes and quite friendly.  Here are some highlights of the conversation.

Q: Did we catch you pre blue screen, mid blue screen, or are you you?

Ryan Reynolds: I just like to look beautiful sometimes. [Laughter] No, I’ve actually been on blue screen all day. I didn’t want to come in with the motion capture suit on, because I know you would all laugh at me.

Q: Did you know about the comic already and how have things changed since you’ve came onto the project?

Ryan Reynolds: I knew of the Green Lantern, but I wasn’t versed in it like Geoff Johns or anyone like that. I know he was just a regular guy who was given a ring by a dying alien, and like, shot lasers out of it or something, but beyond that it wasn’t so familiar with it. What I found most startling was how vast the [Green Lantern] Universe is.  I mean that really does need Geoff Johns and DC, because the scope of it all is what really blew my mind.

I met Martin like I was meeting him for any other movie. They were casting Green Lantern, and I knew that I already dipped my toe in the comic book world a little bit. Years, and years and years ago I was in Blade Trinity, I had four minutes as Deadpool – but I wasn’t sure if this would be the right fit or not. I was more interested in working with Martin Campbell – I mean, I loved Casino Royale and some of his other films as well.

Then I saw the artwork and that was it. Seeing that world and seeing the possibilities, not to put the cart in front of the horse, but how if this were to work what could happen next. Then you can see this going well beyond Hal Jordan, other Green Lanterns, the fall of Hal, the dispensing of him and the bringing on of Guy Gardner and so on.

I read Secret Origins before my meeting.  I didn’t know what their plan was. I didn’t even know if it was Hal Jordan, I just assumed by reading that. I kind of just learned as I went on from that.

Q: Can we talk about the character of Hal? He’s sort of a classic hero, he has no fear, and he’s a little cocky.

Ryan Reynolds: We’re not playing him as a man without fear at all. The ring chose Hal Jordan because he has an ability to overcome fear. He’s as baffled by this decision these cosmic entities have made as anyone. He doesn’t know why he was chosen. He’s afraid to admit he’s afraid, and that’s kind of his challenge throughout the film. Finding that footing and finding the ability to overcome it. That’s what’s deep within him, that’s the reason why he becomes the greatest Green Lantern of all. Fearlessness is insanity. Courage is an amazing trait. It’s noble; it’s a virtue that everyone wants. That’s what it is that he has to find within himself. He’s one of those guys that is trying to be fearless when we meet him but we see he’s going in the wrong direction.

Q:  Can you talk about the difference in playing a superhero where the power doesn’t necessarily come from internally but it does come from an exterior source, like the ring?

Ryan Reynolds: Yeah, it does come internally. The power source is will and imagination. The ring is sort of the conduit of that. It is from within and that’s what I think is most interesting about the character, not necessarily that he can fire things out of this ring but that this ring is so much more. He becomes like a bio-weapon in that sense and I thought that was very cool.

Giant green boxing glove, my eye!

Q: We've seen a lot of innovative concept art, is there something that you’ve shot already or are about to shoot that you just can’t wait to see when it’s put together?

Ryan Reynolds: Yeah, the first trip to Oa is something I’m dying to see. I mean I’ve seen, sort of, artwork on it. I’ve seen pre-visuals, but having guys like Grant Major... that’s the smart thing, any great director is also incredibly intelligent about who they hire. I think Martin was incredibly clever in assembling a team that is so talented in what they do. I’m excited to see that trip to Oa for the first time and see the other Lanterns. There’s so many of them, I think we’re going to have to show at least 20 or 30 of them during the film.

Q: In the grand scheme of Ryan Reynold’s smart asses, where’s Hal Jordan? Is he beneath Deadpool?

Ryan Reynolds: Well Deadpool just lives for that. It’s just finding that tone. I always saw the guy as Han Solo crossed with Chuck Yeager. He’s not funny, but he’s witty. And his wit is more of a self-defense mechanism than anything else. He’s skilled at avoidance in anyway. Anyone who’s skilled in that can divert focus and attention with humor. He’s really good with that. He’s quick with his mouth. He’s not making jokes. There’s never a moment in the movie where I thought “ba-dum-dum.”

Q:  Any jokes you are most proud of?

Ryan Reynolds:  There’s a couple moments with Kilowog where he thinks I smell funny and I have a response that defines his smell.

Q:  You must have known a lot of this was going to be blue screen. Is it more than you thought it was going to be, and how much of this shoot have you found yourself by yourself?

Ryan Reynolds: There’s a fair amount of it. So much of this film takes place in space, so there’s a lot of blue screen. But at the same time there’s a lot of flying is practical. All these rigs are so particular now that you can fly in and you can land, and just as you’re landing you can bank off to the side and land here instead so there’s all this stuff that you’re doing that’s unbelievable. Long flights too, it’s all really kind of cool. That stuff’s been done a lot on the blue screen, but I was surprised by how much practical flying there was.

Q:   Can you talk about the challenge of getting into character when you’re not wearing a costume, and in front of a blue screen with a couple of tennis balls with you? I mean you are really out there.

Ryan Reynolds: I mean, after 103 days of anything you’re going to be into it, and if you aren’t there’s something wrong. You got to have a lot of faith in the artwork that’s around you, and I get a lot of examples of what I’m looking at, and that helps. A lot of it and just knowing what direction you’re supposed to be pointing and looking, but for the most part Hollywood is a world of imagination so you really have to just be there and trust that they’re going to do their part when we all walk away tomorrow.

Q: You mention Kilowog, and he hasn’t even been cast yet. Are you talking to someone else reading the lines?

Ryan Reynolds: We have a guy who is 6’8, his thighs are bigger than my life, he’s huge and he’s just a great reference. He has this big barreling voice and I don’t even know if that’s the voice they’re going to use, and we have some of the other Lanterns there with me, so I’m allowed to talk to them and reference them later on.

Ryan and the Chicken-Fish Alien, Tomar-Re.

Q: What are your favorite Sci-Fi movies or stories?

Ryan Reynolds:  Number one is Back to the Future. That’s definitely up there, a huge one. Star Wars, the first three. I like Total Recall. When I was a kid I loved RoboCop, thought that was pretty awesome.

Q: Theoretically, if you ever appeared opposite another actor playing the Flash, would you be a little jealous?

Ryan Reynolds: If we ever did a Justice League movie, after he did his first line of dialogue I’d have to say, “Is that how you’re going to do it.” [laughter] No, whoever they get will be fantastic I’m sure. There’s too much riding on it to not. I was partial to the Flash, but that kind of died for me because I felt like if I did Deadpool then I couldn’t do the Flash. The Flash felt like there’s that same kind of assertive weight, but it’s more of a PG-13 version than Wade Wilson. I think the Flash is such a cool character. I’ve read the original Flash script and I though it was really interesting.

Q: But you have no doubt that Green Lantern is the best of the DCU?

Ryan Reynolds: Well now that I’m introduced to it, of course! It’s not just because I’m doing it, it’s because I get to see the scope. It’s incredible – you have Earth, you have space, you have fighter jets, you have aliens. You have all of these elements together in one film, and it’s something that we haven’t seen in so long. For me, the last time I saw it done well was Harrison Ford playing Han Solo. I just thought, I want to be in that world. And I feel like we get to experience a bit of that with this, or a lot of that, actually.

Q: There’s a moment when you are human, and all of a sudden there’s this giant fist and you are sucked into outer space and taken to another planet. How do you begin to come up with a reaction for that?

Ryan Reynolds: There’s a catalogue of reactions you can go through for something like that. But you know, you just always try to ground it as much as you can. The biggest asset this movie has, I think, is that it starts on Earth. Because of that, it gives us a point of comparison. That’s the essential element we need to see where we come from and where we are now. If it just started in space I think that’d be a little more difficult. You get to carry that reality, and that’s what I use to inform me in those moments. But you can only go through your catalogue of facial expressions before you need a nap, so you just choose one emotion in that moment, and it’s obviously some form of disbelief.

Q: Can you draw it back to something you’ve experienced?

Ryan Reynolds: No. I’m never one of those actors. It’s always dangerous to do that, I think, because then you get one take where that’s effective, and then the rest you’re kind of stranded. In a pinch, you use that. But for the most part, I don’t replace anything.