Oscars for 'Deadpool'? 'Brilliant' Ryan Reynolds Deserved a Nomination, Jake Gyllenhaal Says
To the dismay of many, Ryan Reynolds did not pick up an Oscar nomination for his role as the red-clad mutant antihero of Deadpool, nor did the film get a nod in the Best Picture or Best Screenplay categories, as some had hoped it might. While that outcome didn’t dissuade the actor from going ahead with an already scheduled cast-wide tickle party, it’s left fans more than a bit disappointed — including, as it turns out, Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Per Vulture, at a recent Nocturnal Animals screening, the film’s star let it be known that he was firmly rooting for Reynolds to be included among the contenders for this year’s Best Actor trophy. Gyllenhaal had high praise for the actor’s uniquely personal work in the R-rated superhero hit:
“We talk about brilliant performances all the time, you know, the actors who tear themselves apart for their roles, which I’m a believer in. But then I look at Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool and I say, ‘No one can do that but him.’ That is truly, purely him. As an artist he struggled for several years to figure that out and it’s all there on the screen. And it’s brilliant.
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“Sure, it’s a comic book movie and it’s made a lot of money — but that doesn’t subtract from Ryan’s extraordinary work. Because it’s him. I mean, let’s ask ourselves: What else do we want from people who create? Something that is truly them.”
While Gyllenhaal seems to be blaming Reynolds’ omission on the Academy’s disinterest in popular superhero fare, another explanation might be that awards groups in general tend to ignore comedic performances of any kind — because, as the popular theory goes, comedy isn’t “serious” enough to warrant such acting-with-a-capital-A honors. Regardless, at least now Reynolds knows at least one fellow Hollywood A-lister who might be willing to join him (as Cable?) for Deadpool 2.
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