‘My Career was over’: Ryan Reynolds Nearly Killed His Acting Career When He Hit Denzel Washington During Safe House
Ryan Reynolds is one of Hollywood’s most reliable faces, delivering blockbusters like Deadpool and Free Guy. But all was not well for the actor, a decade back. He believed one of the biggest ‘whoops’ moments of his career came when he accidentally hit Denzel Washington.
Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds were co-stars in Safe House
Ryan Reynolds has always been the goofy guy we know. But recently on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Ryan Reynolds reminisced one of his most dreadful experiences ever. In 2012, Reynolds was acting alongside Denzel Washington, in Morbius director, Daniel Espinosa’s Safe House, an action thriller. The film starred Reynolds as a CIA officer who had the duty of looking over Washington’s veteran operative, who is accused of betraying the agency. As the movie progresses, the safe house that the duo is living in is attacked by mercenaries. The Equalizer star and Ryan Reynolds escape the safe house and that’s when the trouble begins.
Ryan Reynolds told David Letterman about accidentally hitting Denzel Washington on the set of Safe House. "He and I are in this out-of-control car, and the corner of my head — I felt it hit his eye so hard I was sure that it split wide open."https://t.co/FvS9ODef3t pic.twitter.com/JA09inS5YK
— Screen Rant (@screenrant) June 13, 2022
A car ride gone wrong
The ensuing chase created the occasion for various highly-charged action sequences. And that is when things went a little wrong for the Detective Pikachu star. He recounted the experience of a scene in which he and Denzel Washington were packed into a car for a big action sequence:
“There’s a scene in the movie … where he crawls through the trunk in the back and he grabs me and chokes me. We were really driving a car at top speed. He and I are in this out-of-control car, and the corner of my head — I felt it hit his eye so hard I was sure that it split wide open. … I’m thinking I’m going to be sent home via crematorium — like, it’s over right now, this is it, not only my career but my actual pulse will cease.”
Ryan Reynolds could see his life flash before his eyes. But the situation wasn’t half as bad as he perceived it to be. Ryan Reynolds added:
“He was fine. He was like, ‘Hey, accidents happen. Let’s do it again. We’ll shoot it from the other side so we can keep shooting so we don’t see this. … We did it again. I got the other eye, Dave. For a minute he looked like a Christmas ornament.”
The injury did not deter Denzel, who continued shooting the movie. And in the end, it proved worthwhile. The action thriller grossed $208 million at the box office. Not bad for two black eyes, right?
Also Read: Why The World Needs More Pure Hearted Actors Like Denzel Washington
The movie’s success was in no small part built on Denzel Washington’s and Ryan Reynolds’ box office appeal. Though the movie did not delight the critics, having bagged a modest 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it did pretty well at the time.
The Duo has been Wildly Successful
10 years down the line, not a lot of people will remember the movie, but the duo of Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washinton have made it big. Ryan Reynolds has become one of the fan favorites and is associated with blockbusters like Deadpool, Free Guy, and Detective Pikachu. While Washington continues to rack up plaudits for his works, not to mention winning an Oscar just last year, for his role in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Unlike the titular ‘Safe House’ in the movie, their careers are still going strong.
