Ryan Reynolds admitted he ‘let go’ of getting paid for his on-screen work as he fought to get the movie off the ground

Ryan Reynolds has revealed he didn’t earn any money for acting in Deadpool as he fought to get the movie off the ground.

Considering its success now, it’s hard to imagine a world without Deadpool.

The foul-mouthed mercenary is a staple of the superhero genre now, and Reynolds has played a large part in that.

His involvement began two decades ago, when he started developing the movie. At the time Reynolds wasn’t tied to the character, but he was passionate about getting it off the ground – even if it took years to do so.

In an interview with The New York Times, Reynolds explained that it had been ‘almost 10 years’ before he ‘finally got to make’ Deadpool.

Even then, he didn’t have much hope for the movie.

“No part of me was thinking when ‘Deadpool’ was finally greenlit that this would be a success,” he said.

Obviously the 2016 movie turned out to be very much a success, but Reynolds made sacrifices to help make it that way.

Ryan Reynolds was involved in Deadpool long before it arrived on screen. (Marvel Studios/Disney)

He revealed he ‘let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen’, adding: “They wouldn’t allow my co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room.”

It’s worth noting that Reynolds worked as a producer of Deadpool as well as acting in it, so while he didn’t pocket any money for his performance on-screen, he would likely still have earned an income through his role behind the scenes when the movie was released.

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds team up in the new Deadpool. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

However, he said he learned a ‘lesson’ through his efforts, explaining: “I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money.

“It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie. I was just so invested in every micro-detail of it and I hadn’t felt like that in a long, long time. I remembered wanting to feel that more – not just on ‘Deadpool‘, but on anything.”

Almost another decade later from the first movie, and we’re now looking forward to another instalment in the form of Deadpool & Wolverine, which has allowed Reynolds to team up with his friend and fellow star Hugh Jackman.

Deadpool & Wolverine is set to be released in cinemas on July 26.