Ryan Reynolds says Richard Curtis’ storytelling advice still guides his work, from filmmaking to ads, and reflects on humor, creativity and soft parenting.
Ryan Reynolds is crediting filmmaker Richard Curtis with passing along a piece of guidance that continues to influence his creative approach.
Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City on Nov. 18, the Deadpool & Wolverine star reflected on the advice Curtis gave him years ago — one that he still carries into nearly every project.
Reynolds recalled that Curtis, the writer-director behind beloved films such as Love Actually, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, once told him that “every character has to have a beginning, a middle and an end.”
The actor joked that he was “very young — like 40” at the time, earning laughter from the live audience. The simplicity of the advice, he said, has stayed with him and even shaped his work in advertising for brands like Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile.
Reynolds explained that the challenge became figuring out how to apply the structure of storytelling to ultra-short formats. “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.
The actor also emphasized the importance of limitations, noting, “I really do believe that too much time and too much money will murder creativity — it will just kill it.”
During the conversation, Reynolds also discussed his approach to using humor and emotion in marketing campaigns.
He said those two elements “travel the most,” adding that combining them can create a sense of unity. “It creates that feeling that we’re all right now, we’re not divided,” he noted.
The actor later shifted the conversation to family life and opened up about “soft parenting” the four children he shares with wife Blake Lively. Reynolds described the gentle approach as one built around safety and calm.
“If you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions,” he said. This allows children, he added, to think clearly rather than react out of fear.
Reynolds and Lively are parents to four children: James, 10, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 2.
