How His Survival Drama Made Ryan Reynolds Insomniac

Published 10/06/2022, 5:00 PM EDT

via Imago

Ryan Reynolds really gets into the character when working on a movie. The actor that we know has a light-hearted personality and even his Marvel superhero character Deadpool has a humorous personality trait to it. But when it comes to rather grim roles, it can take a toll on the actors off-screen as well. The research that goes behind understanding such a role, and bringing it to life on the big screen is quite a straining process.

Buried was one such Ryan Reynolds movie. The 2010 thriller/ drama movie was Rodrigo Cortes’s direction and casts Reynolds in the lead. The survival drama was written by Chris Sparling and received mostly positive reviews. The movie is shown to be based in Iraq where American activity was high at the time with the presence of both military and nonmilitary civilians. It also casts Jose Perez, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Samantha Mathis amongst others.

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How the movie gave Ryan Reynolds sleepless nights

Ryan Reynolds once explained how filming Buried had him struggling with Insomnia. The role after all was an intense one. He got out of it all with some bruises and patches but agreed that the emotional burden was harder. According to a source, the actor went through a heightened state of emotional pain and anxiety for 17 straight days.

“I definitely struggled with a lot of insomnia when I was working on this film and that was something that was new to me,” said the actor.

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The feeling of being buried in a coffin can be claustrophobic, even for an actor. The pressure was more since he is the only person who is actually seen during the entire length of the movie. Any other cast involved is through voice only, making it a one-man show.

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The film revolves around a US truck driver in Iraq who is trapped inside a coffin with just a phone and a lighter for his company. Ryan came out of the whole experience a completely different person. Despite all this, the 6 Underground actors had a great shooting experience.

Do you think actors doing such roles should be given more support for their mental health? Let us know in the comments.

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Neha Subhash

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Neha Ghag is a prime-time entertainment writer for Netflix Junkie, who has written nearly 1000 articles, immersing herself in pop culture. Writing was not her first choice, but she has now found solace in unraveling the fascinating stories of public figures' personal and professional lives. Neha is a fan of classic hip-hop and psycho thrillers, and she can talk endlessly about Kanye West.

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