Ryan Reynolds asked Hugh Jackman for dancing advice while preparing for his role in Spirited. An AppleTV+ Christmas movie, Spirited features Will Ferrell and Reynolds in a holiday musical romp inspired by the classic Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol. Starring Reynolds as the Scrooge-like Clint, the film includes the talents of Sunita Mani, Ferrell, and Tracy Morgan as the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet To Come. The twist on the new holiday movie is that the film is told from the perspective of Ferrell's character, the Ghost of Christmas Present.
While Ferrell is well-known for the Christmas class Elf and recently ventured into the world of musicals with Netflix's Eurovision Song Contest, both genres are a first for Reynolds. Seeking advice on nailing the choreography, the actor turned to his Deadpool 3 co-star Hugh Jackman, who has starred in the movie musical adaptations of Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman as well as boasting a Tony award-winning Broadway career. However, while speaking with The Big Issue, Reynolds revealed that Jackman's experience on the stage and talent actually hindered his ability to teach the art of dance, though he did end up giving Reynolds a helpful piece of advice. See what the actor had to say about Jackman's dance lessons below:
"It comes so naturally to Hugh that, in a weird way, his helping was not helping. He was like, 'Just make sure you're listening to those count-offs and those beats'. And I was like, 'I don't hear the beats, man. Help me out with something real here!' He reminded me of something that is so vital with almost anything that you're doing in the arts. He said, 'Just to enjoy it, because if you're enjoying it, we'll enjoy it.' That was something that I constantly reminded myself. Even when I felt so out of my depth, which was almost every day, I kept reminding myself that this is an opportunity of a lifetime. And it actually extended well beyond this project into other aspects of my life. So that was pretty good advice."
Will Deadpool 3 Feature A Jackman And Reynolds Musical Number?
Given Jackman's long-established musical career, it's almost surprising that his skills in dancing and singing never made their way into his two decades as Wolverine. The main reason for this primarily has to do with the more serious and gritty tone of the various X-Men films Jackman has starred in as Wolverine, which never ventured into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Deadpool films' occasional levels of whimsy or levity. Though Jackman retired as Wolverine after the critically acclaimed 2017 film Logan, it was announced earlier this fall that he will return as the iconic character for 2024's Deadpool 3.
Deadpool 3 will herald a new era as it officially brings both Reynolds' Deadpool and Jackman's Wolverine into the MCU as well as seeing them interact for the first time since the much-maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The characters could be potentially tackling the heroes' first t musical number, given Jackman's wealth of theater experience and the skills Reynolds acquired for Spirited. However, that possibility largely hinges on the tone of the Deadpool movie.
While Jackman has starred as Wolverine in many more serious films, Reynolds' Deadpool franchise has been led with heart, meta humor, and plenty of zany wit in accordance with the hero's comics history. Sandwiched between Blade (2024) and Marvel's Fantastic Four, both of which will have the weighty responsibility of introducing new characters into the more serious MCU, Deadpool 3 will likely follow in its predecessors' footsteps and provide viewers plenty of comic relief, which could include a musical number from its two leads. However, it's likely that Jackman's Wolverine will play the straight man to Reynolds' wise-cracking Deadpool, which makes the likelihood of him performing a song-and-dance number less certain. Regardless, it's heartwarming to see that Jackman attempted to help Reynolds out during his preparations for Spirited, displaying the real-life camaraderie between the soon-to-be teamed-up actors.
Source: The Big Issue
