Just four months since the release of Red Notice, Ryan Reynolds is back on Netflix. Directed by Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy, Reynolds portrays a time-traveling fighter pilot in The Adam Project. He goes back in time to team up with his younger self and his late father to save the future and come to terms with his past. And if that’s not interesting enough, 13 Going on 30 superstars Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo reunites in the film!
READ MORE:
Double Trouble: a review of ‘The Adam Project’
Watch the official trailer of The Adam Project here:
In a roundtable interview, we talked to Ryan Reynolds and Walker Scobell who play Big and Small Adam Reed, and Zoe Saldaña who plays Adam’s wife Laura. Reynolds shares the story of how he and Shawn Levy ended up working again, Scobell’s wrap gift, Saldaña’s advice to her 12-year-old self, and more. Read the interview below:
What made you say yes to ‘The Adam Project’?
Ryan Reynolds: It was very weird. I just finished Free Guy with Shawn [Levy] and I was looking to tell something that was some sort of ‘Field of Dreams’ kind of space. I really wanted to be a part of a story that uses that kind of 80s architecture and film which is a huge spectacle-driven wish-fulfillment type filmmaking that there’s always that really emotionally important at its core.
Shawn and I were actually about to make a whole other movie that dealt with similar themes but wasn’t quite as sharp and as resonant as The Adam Project. And then we left it and found The Adam Project and we were both just in right from the get-go.
The idea was pitched to me by David Ellison who runs Skydance [Media] and I fell in love with the idea. I immediately pitched it to Sean and I threatened his life that he was going to do this movie with me or face dire and fatal consequences. And then off we went! We just went into development, Sean and I did a little rewrite on the script and then we were shooting.
Adam goes back in time to reunite with you in the movie, what would you say is the greatest or craziest thing you’ve done for love?
Zoe Saldaña: Get married! I met a guy, fell in love, and married him. Marriage is such a big step. It’s a commitment, an everyday exercise of love, and that takes discipline, energy, passion, determination, and perseverance — and that’s crazy to me. The fact that we wake up and generate all this energy to put into love because if we get lazy in love, it begins to die. So the craziest thing I’ve ever done for love is to marry and I’m very happy with my decision.
What were the lessons of time traveling have you learned from The Adam Project?
Zoe Saldaña: Sometimes things are better left untouched. Yes, they’re worth reliving because if they are wonderful moments in your life, the possibility of getting to relive a special moment again is just a wonderful gift.
Did you get to keep memorabilia when you wrapped up shooting?
Walker Scobell: Um, I did. Well, that was a wrap gift. I’m wearing it now actually!
Ryan Reynolds: There it is. That was his wrap gift on the movie — the actual watch!
Walker Scobell: But I took my whole costume, a couple of pairs of shoes but I grew out of them in like two days. I also took this hard drive thing that’s pretty cool.
What advice would you give your 12-year-old self?
Zoe Saldaña: Push yourself and stay curious. Try to find comfort in uncomfortable places because it only means that you’re challenging yourself, and you’re learning and growing. And I think I would have let my 12-year-old self know that “You’re on the right track. Everything that you’re doing for yourself, it’s going to help you find who you truly want to be.” And I feel like that would have saved me a lot of moments of tears, anxiety, and paranoia.
The Adam Project premieres today, March 11, on Netflix. Stream here.
About ‘The Adam Project’
Director: Shawn Levy
Writers: Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin
Producers: David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Shawn Levy, p.g.a., Ryan Reynolds, p.g.a.
Executive Producers: Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen, George Dewey, Patrick Gooing, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, with Catherine Keener and Zoe Saldaña
Logline: A time-traveling pilot teams up with his younger self and his late father to come to terms with his past while saving the future.
