Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell find kindred spirits in each other while filming Christmas comedy Spirited

LOS ANGELES – What happens when you put two larger-than-life funnymen in the same room – and the same film?

Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell have each headlined plenty of comedies: Reynolds, the Deadpool superhero blockbusters (2016 and 2018), and Ferrell, beloved classics such as Elf (2003) and Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004).

But they share the screen for the first time in Spirited, a musical comedy adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol.

Premiering on Apple TV+ on Friday, it puts a new spin on the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser transformed into a kinder man after visits from ghosts from the past, present and future.

In this version, Ferrell is the Ghost of Christmas Present, who every year chooses one Scrooge-like character to be reformed by a similar visit.

But this time, the man he picks, Clint Briggs (Reynolds), turns the tables on the Ghost and has the latter re-examining his own life choices.

The two actors’ chemistry was on display when they chatted with reporters over Zoom about the film, which they say pushed them far outside their comfort zones because of the big musical numbers.

They oscillate between sincere and goofy at the drop of a hat, as when The Straits Times asks how their chemistry was on set.

Says Canadian star Reynolds, 46: “I have wanted to work with Will my whole career.

“I think you’d struggle to find an actor who’s contributed more to the comedic lexicon – anywhere, ever. People are doing (a) Will Ferrell (impression) even when they don’t realise they’re doing a Will Ferrell impression, sometimes.

“My biggest challenge working with Will was to not do an impression of Will Ferrell to Will Ferrell, because I’ve stolen from him my whole life, my whole career.”

 

In person, Ferrell was not quite what he expected, either.

“I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of real comedic icons, and one thing that happens is some of them can be ‘on’ all the time. But the thing I was most surprised by is that Will is not like that.

“The moment you meet him, you realise, oh, we’re going to have wonderful, insightful, beautiful conversations, as well as doing bits and goofing around.

“So it’s sort of like the best of both worlds,” says Reynolds, who shares three daughters aged three to seven with his wife, American actress Blake Lively.

And Ferrell felt he found a kindred spirit in Reynolds.

Says the 55-year-old American comedian: “Ryan and I, without saying anything, hit the ground running in terms of the same way we approached rehearsals – with the same excitement, the same fear and trepidation.

“We were just immediately in the same foxhole together. We were both willing to work as hard and as long as it took to get this stuff down.”

He adds: “We probably still could rehearse some of the stuff.”

“I’m actually still in rehearsal,” quips Reynolds.

 

And when Ferrell wraps up his answer, Reynold feigns disappointment that his co-star had not heaped more praise on him.

“It was fine. I mean, was it on a par with what I said? ‘Being in a foxhole’ – I like the war reference,” Reynolds sniffs.

“Okay, I’ll do better on the next one,” says Ferrell, who is married to Swedish actress Viveca Paulin. They have three sons aged 12 to 18 together.

 

Reynolds and Ferrell also bonded over how difficult the music and choreography were, and entertained themselves and other cast members by cracking jokes between takes.

“These extensive musical numbers that take three to five days to shoot create a lot of downtime, and we were able to fill it with that,” Ferrell explains.

And, Reynolds adds, “they would stop us one syllable into a song and be like, ‘Wrong, wrong. Anything you’re about to do is wrong.’

“That was their fault, though, for hiring a bunch of non-singing, non-dancing people.”

---

Christmas offerings: your holiday guide

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas – and not just along Orchard Road and in the shopping malls, but on the screens as well. Here are the top shows from the streamers, as well as a theatrical release.

Falling For Christmas (showing on Netflix)

 

This Christmas rom-com, which topped the Netflix charts in many countries when it debuted on Nov 10, is being hailed as yet another attempt at a comeback for troubled former child actress and Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan. Resurrecting the amnesia-as-romantic-aid subgenre, it has Lohan playing a spoiled heiress who loses her memory after a ski accident and falls for a blue-collar lodge owner (Chord Overstreet) in the run-up to Christmas.

The Santa Clauses (showing on Disney+)

 

This comedy miniseries continues from The Santa Clause movies (1994 to 2006), which starred Tim Allen as divorced dad Scott Calvin, who in the first film accidentally causes the death of Santa and then has to take his place. In the new show, he finds his Santa magic waning as Christmas declines in popularity, and considers retiring.

The Noel Diary (available on Netflix from Nov 24)

 

Justin Hartley helms his first movie after the end of the beloved tearjerker family drama This Is Us (2016 to 2022), a rom-com in which he stars as a successful author who returns home on Christmas to settle his late mother’s estate. He finds a diary with secrets to both his past as well as that of a young woman (Barrett Doss), who teams up with him to try and solve the mystery.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special (available on Disney+ from Nov 25)

 

Written and directed by James Gunn and intended as the second Marvel Studios Special Presentation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Werewolf By Night (2022), this 40-minute television special sees Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and more reprise their roles as the motley gang from the hit superhero flicks. This time, they are on a quest to make Christmas memorable for Quill (Pratt) by heading to Earth to find him the perfect gift.

Violent Night (opens in cinemas on Dec 1)

 

Stranger Things (2016 to present) star David Harbour is Santa Claus in this black comedy actioner, where Father Christmas himself is forced to bust out his jiu-jitsu skills and save the day when a family is taken hostage on Christmas Eve by a group of mercenaries. It is a role Harbour was uniquely qualified for as a jiu-jitsu and wrestling enthusiast.