Ryan Reynolds Shares His ‘Wolverine’ Workout Secrets

Ryan Reynolds knew it was important to be lean and mean for his role as Wade Wilson/Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

When he sat down with Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson to discuss the movie, he admitted his attraction to playing a part he’s wanted for almost the last decade.

“I think he’s the most interesting, unusual, comic book character ever invented,” Ryan said of Deadpool. “He’s a guy that knows he’s in a comic book, which I think is hilarious. So he’s incredibly acerbic and has a real dark wit to him and I love that.”

Ryan also revealed he actually enjoyed the intense workout regime involved in prepping to take the comic book fan favorite to the big screen.

“There’s a huge challenge in having to do that, going from you know, zero to hero in five months. It’s a lot of fun. I stuck to my own kind of routine and I think pulled it off,” Ryan told Shaun. “But the fans of these movies, they expect that, they want that and you have to do it. I’ve done this kind of film before where I’ve had to transform and change. And part of that is exciting to me.”

Ryan hit the gym hard to prepare for his physically intense role as vampire hunter Hannibal King in 2004’s “Blade: Trinity.” But even after that, he recalled he wasn’t quite prepared to go toe to toe, much less pound for pound, with Wolverine himself in the gym.

“Hugh, he was tiny. I don’t think he’s in terrifying shape at all,” Ryan laughed with a grin. “I don’t think my bones are strong enough to lift that kind of weight.”

“I did work out with him once and afterward I had to go seek the counsel of a medical professional,” Ryan joked. “I was not in good shape after that, I mean, he’s doing something completely different.”

He also shared a workout secret that helped him out to looking and keeping fit on set.

“I’d actually just bench press Hugh as much as I could right before each take. He seemed to enjoy the ride. And then I’d be ready to shoot,” Ryan laughed.