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Beverly Hills, US: From subversive superheroes to sports documentaries, Hollywood’s Ryan Reynolds said he’s focused on exploring new forms of storytelling, receiving the film industry’s most prestigious honor.
The star of comic book movies like “Deadpool” and “Green Lantern” made headlines last year when he bought humble Welsh soccer team Wrexham, along with actor Rob McElhenney.
Their take over and the Fifth Division team’s subsequent claim to promotion were the subject of a successful ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series, the latest in a burgeoning trend of behind-the-scenes sports documentaries.
Sports “is about telling stories in real time. So I love applying that to Wrexham,” Reynolds said at the Beverly Hills gala Thursday.
“I fell in love with not just Wrexham but with the people of Wales. I knew I would be so firmly anchored in the city, little did I know it would go so deep so quickly.
“It was amazing. It really was one of the great privileges of my life.”
While Welcome to Wrexham is unusual in that its stars and producers have taken ownership of the club – despite admitting they know almost nothing about football – sports documentaries in general have generally risen in popularity in recent times.
Netflix has hit it big with basketball series “The Last Dance” and “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” while the popular Amazon Prime franchise “All Or Nothing” offers glimpses into what goes on inside elite teams.
“We live in a world that moves incredibly quickly,” Reynolds said. “If you can move as fast as what people talk about, when they talk about it, you can move mountains — and sports are.”
Reynolds last week told late night host Jimmy Fallon that he’s interested in buying a much bigger franchise — the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Asked about the bid at Thursday’s gala, Reynolds joked, “We’ll see.”
– ´Superheroes and Horror´ –
Reynolds is the recipient of the American Cinematheque Award, a “mid-career achievement” award given to one star of the event each year. Previous honorees include Al Pacino, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg.
The actor, who also has extensive business dealings including stakes in a genie brand and a mobile phone company, is working on “Deadpool 3,” another installment in his hit series, which is about a potty-mouthed superhero.
“I think what made ‘Deadpool’ special and the reason I loved it is because it subverts the genre,” he said.
“When you can subvert a genre like this, especially a powerful genre like the superhero genre, you jump at the chance.”
Among the guests at the glitzy event was Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) who said Reynolds “is proving to be a truly amazing storyteller and producer as well as a movie star.”
Actor and co-owner of Wrexham McElhenney said Reynolds is “incredibly businesslike” and “just looks at the world and business, our own business, in a whole different way.”
Jason Blum, the pioneering horror producer behind songs like “Get Out” and “Paranormal Activity,” was also honored with the Power of Cinema award.
Like superhero movies, the horror genre has continued to thrive, drawing huge audiences to movie theaters in the era of streaming.
“Superheroes and Horror. We’ve Got Theatres Covered!” Bloom joked about his fellow honoree.
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