The Adam Project Scene That Was Produced On The Fly
Any time a director gets Ryan Reynolds onscreen, they can expect the actor to suggest a slew of ad-libbed scenes and to be amenable to moments that other actors or directors come up with on the fly. The new Netflix film "The Adam Project" certainly follows this formula, leading to one of the movie's funniest moments.
The film, from Shawn Levy and Reynolds, puts the lead actor in the role of Adam — a mildly jaded time traveler who meets a younger version of himself (Walker Scobell) while on a quest to find his wife. The dynamic between self and former self isn't one you see very often, but Adult Adam's contempt for his younger version adds an interesting component to the movie that highlights the regret we often feel for the choices we made in adolescence.
Netflix invited Looper to an early screening of "The Adam Project," followed by a Q&A with Reynolds, Levy, Scobell, and actor Mark Ruffalo moderated by Dave Karger. During the discussion, Reynolds and Scobell dished on one particular scene produced on the fly that almost didn't happen.
The moment Scobell had to grab Reynolds' face in the film
During the Q&A, moderator Dave Karger turned to young actor Walker Scobell and said, "I love the moment where you cover Ryan's eyes at 200 miles per hour. I don't even know what the speed is. Was that spur of the moment? Was that in the script? How did that funny moment come about?"
Scobell then divulged, "Well, I was originally supposed to grab onto the seat, but then when we were doing it, Shawn [Levy] said, 'Just cover his face.' And I didn't do that for like a bunch of takes because I was too scared to, and then while I was about to do it, [Ryan Reynolds] just took my hands and then just put them on his face. And he said, 'Just pull as hard as you can.'" Reynolds then popped into the discussion with one word: "Facelift."
In fact, Scobell was quite the Reynolds and "Deadpool" fan before playing the actor's former self in "The Adam Project" — so much so that the young talent can recite moments from the film on cue. As Reynolds noted, Scobell can do it "backwards ... like 'The Exorcist.'" With some coaxing from Karger and Reynolds during the Q&A, Scobell then railed off Reynolds' Wolverine dis rant from "Deadpool."
When Karger asked Scobell, "Did you ever think to yourself, not only am I a fan of this guy, but I should play him in a movie one day?" Scobell answered, "Not really. I probably shouldn't have watched 'Deadpool' that much, maybe because I was a little too young, but I guess that kind of worked out."
"The Adam Project" is now streaming on Netflix.