How Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman won over Madonna
It takes a little sweet talk to put an iconic song on the map. Deadpool and Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds recently revealed. 47 years old actorwho is also the co-writer and producer of the film, said it took a direct pitch to become a superstar. Blessed Mother to ensure her success in 1989, “Like a prayer,” with co-star Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Le beside him
The trio revealed the secret in a joint interview on Friday with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM, which Bravo the patriarch expressed surprise that the third film in the action franchise was able to achieve such widespread success. According to Levy, it took more than the usual calls between managers and lawyers to come up with a creative agreement.
“Let’s just say up front that they didn’t license — that Madonna didn’t just license the song, especially that song,” Ryan Reynolds told Cohen.
“Asking for it is a big deal and certainly using it is an even bigger deal. We went to her and showed her how, where and why it was used.”
Reynolds said he went into the meeting a little nervous, asking a member of the singer/songwriter/actor/director’s crew, “Is it okay for me to just say ‘Madonna?’ Like, ‘Hi Madonna, I’m Ryan?'”
Tensions eased when Madonna spoke to Deadpool The filmmakers said her son was a fan of the previous films in the trilogy. She even acted as a quick advisor when she saw the scene that used “Like a Prayer.”
“She made a great note,” Reynolds said. After seeing the footage, she said, “‘You need to do this.’ And damn if she wasn’t like, yeah, that’s it.”
“We actually started a new recording session within 48 hours to get that note. … It made the recording sound better,” Levy said.
The result is one of Madonna’s few re-releases. Billboard’s fourth biggest hitAlthough the song is arguably one of her most controversial. As fans may recall, “Like a Prayer” was actually released as part of a Pepsi commercialone ad so excited Pepsi executives that they bought $10 million in advance airtime to air the commercial. But after Madonna split, Mary Lambert-directed the video for the song that was played on MTV, the campaign had to stop immediately.
In the video, which draws heavily on religious imagery, Madonna dances in front of burning crosses while wearing a petticoat, and kisses a black statue of a saint after it comes to life. In an Instagram post from 2023, Madonna writes that “The ad was immediately canceled when I refused to change any scenes in the video that showed me kissing a black saint or burning a cross.”
“Thus began my illustrious career as an artist who refused to compromise my artistic integrity,” she continued, adding that “artists are here to disrupt the peace.”
Embracing controversy may be another thing Madonna and Deadpool (and Reynolds) have in common. Talk to Vanity Fair Last month, Levy noted that the character “Deadpool has DNA that violates the norm.”
“He’s still an equal opportunity criminal, but it’s all done with the same cultural awareness and fluency that both Ryan and the Wade Wilson character have,” Levy said. And the latest film, “Like a Prayer,” which uses film, isn’t “a Deadpool film. It’s culturally aware and aware of being in a film as the character always has been.”
