Ryan Reynolds reveals filmmaking advice that shaped his career

Ryan Reynolds says one piece of advice from filmmaker Richard Curtis has guided him for years — even outside Hollywood.

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City, the Deadpool & Wolverine star recalled a conversation with the Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary creator.

“I remember he once said to me when I was very young — I was like 40,” Reynolds, now 49, joked as the audience laughed. “He said every character has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. [The advice] really kind of stuck with me.”

Reynolds explained that he carried that lesson into the advertising world while helping shape campaigns for Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile.

“I sort of brought that even into that space with, ‘How do you do that in 30 seconds or 15 seconds as well?’ ” he said. “I really do believe that too much time and too much money will murder creativity — it will just kill it.”

Before circling back to Curtis’ influence, Reynolds spoke about how he builds humour into his branding work. “Well, humour and emotion are the two feelings that I think travel the most,” he said.

“Humour works so well, so does emotion. But if you get them together, it really, really just creates togetherness. It creates that feeling that we’re all right now, we’re not divided.”

Reynolds also touched on parenting during the summit, reflecting on raising four children with Blake Lively. “Soft parenting is new, right? I didn't have that,” he said.

“If you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions… you get to be thoughtful, and you get to think about everybody in the room.”

Reynolds and Lively share James, 10, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 2.