Credit: Kurt Iswarienko (photographer), Alison Prato (writer)
As for Reese, they are officially on good terms. “She and I have a great friendship related to them now. They’re our focus, and I think we’ve done a really good job raising them and transitioning from what our life was to what it is now. I guess I haven’t been that guy who’s, like, loving attention. My thing always was, I love movies and I want to be an actor. That’s where it begins and ends with me. Now I’m realizing, yeah, I’ve got to play the game a little bit more.”
To that end, Ryan signed on to star in this spring’s MacGruber, the first big-budget comedy of his career. The movie, starring SNL’s Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, and helmed by The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone, is a huge departure for Ryan, who has appeared in his share of downers. “MacGruber is to ’80s action movies what Austin Powers was to Bond movies,” he says. “When you do dramas—and a lot of the movies I’ve been in, I wouldn’t say they’re, like, message movies or political movies, but the themes are heavy: racism, war, espionage—the mood pervades. If it’s a dramatic scene, there’s tension on set. This was the exact opposite. I would get there and laugh from morning until night. I was out of my element in a great way.”
To that end, Ryan signed on to star in this spring’s MacGruber, the first big-budget comedy of his career. The movie, starring SNL’s Will Forte and Kristen Wiig, and helmed by The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone, is a huge departure for Ryan, who has appeared in his share of downers. “MacGruber is to ’80s action movies what Austin Powers was to Bond movies,” he says. “When you do dramas—and a lot of the movies I’ve been in, I wouldn’t say they’re, like, message movies or political movies, but the themes are heavy: racism, war, espionage—the mood pervades. If it’s a dramatic scene, there’s tension on set. This was the exact opposite. I would get there and laugh from morning until night. I was out of my element in a great way.”
Still, many are skeptical that Ryan can pull it off. “When Val Kilmer and I signed on to do the movie, the Internet haters said it was the end of our careers. They were like, ‘Look how desperate … they must need money.” The irony is I didn’t [do it] to get paid. I did it because I loved the script. It’s the movie I’m most excited for my friends to see.”
MacGruber star Will Forte has been an inspiration, he says. “Will is the most fearless actor I’ve ever worked with. He’ll do anything. He’ll get naked at the drop of a dime and spread his butt cheeks. He does not give a fuck. He’s very rock ‘n’ roll. … I wish I was more like that.”
Taking a bite of a beet salad, Ryan continues explaining how MacGruber was just the antidote he needed. “After the things I’ve been through in my personal life, the struggle that can be this industry, and all the bullshit that you deal with—people attacking you in the press and being hounded by paparazzi and then people shitting on whatever they estimate your talents to be—it can be really self-consciously heavy. You learn to ignore a lot of the negativity on the Internet. I don’t search myself anymore. It can really spin you out, the shit people write. So it was fun to go into a silly and fun job.”
Taking a bite of a beet salad, Ryan continues explaining how MacGruber was just the antidote he needed. “After the things I’ve been through in my personal life, the struggle that can be this industry, and all the bullshit that you deal with—people attacking you in the press and being hounded by paparazzi and then people shitting on whatever they estimate your talents to be—it can be really self-consciously heavy. You learn to ignore a lot of the negativity on the Internet. I don’t search myself anymore. It can really spin you out, the shit people write. So it was fun to go into a silly and fun job.”
subscribe
fresh ink
digital edition
digital edition
Visit the Inked Art Gallery if you're interested in buying or selling your tattoo art or go to our Tattoo Gallery and upload photos of your tattoos or browse 1000's of other tattoo designs. Check out the Inked Girls to see sexy women with tattoos and beautiful Inked Girls.
Copyright © 2007-2010 Quadra Media L.L.C. All Rights Reserved
