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Ryan Reynolds has revealed the reason why he removed Rob McElhenney’s scenes from Deadpool & Wolverine.
The Deadpool star, 47, who co-wrote and produced the franchise’s latest installment, co-owns Wrexham football club with the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor, but still opted to ditch his close friend’s cameo during the editing process.
Reynolds admitted he was “mortified” to have cut McElhenney’s scenes from the film, which has gone on to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history.
Writing in a lengthy post on Instagram, Reynolds said that he hoped McElhenney’s scenes could be included in Deadpool & Wolverine’s “digital extras” instead.
The Buried actor explained: “While editing a movie, they say you sometimes have to kill your darlings. And with a heavy heart (and through great outside intervention) I had to kill a darling with this cameo.”
He continued: “The sequence wasn’t working the way we’d originally constructed it. Rob was the only reason it stayed in the cut for as long as it did, because even under a TVA mask and helmet, you can feel him smoldering with a raw and almost infinite reservoir of talent, writerly wit and ‘I create hit TV shows’ swagger.
“Don’t even get me started on Wrexham,” Reynolds added of their shared sports venture. “I wouldn’t know a love like Wrexham if it weren’t for Rob McElhenney.”
The actor revealed making Deadpool & Wolverine “wasn’t without stress” and admitted he had felt the pressure of “expectation” while creating the film, which McElhenney helped him navigate.
“When you do stressful stuff, it feels good when friends are nearby,” he said. “And even though I’m mortified he flew all the way to London for a cameo that wasn’t meant to be, I’m grateful my friend was there with me on that set.
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“When I see Rob, my heart-rate slows and my nervous system stops yelling at me. He shows up for people. And he showed up for me.”
Reynolds post follows after Deadpool & Wolverine overtook 2019’s Joker as the highest grossing R-rated movie in history. The Marvel comic book sequel took in $1.086bn (£839m) at the global box office after 23 days of release.
Reynolds reacted to the news on social media, sharing a post from Marvel Studios to his Instagram Stories. The post was a message from the company’s president Kevin Feige, who said: “It’s fantastic to see that audiences are loving this movie as much as we loved making it. All those conversations were worth it!”
