--- title: Ryan Reynolds on Blake Lively Helping With Deadpool Anxiety description: Deadpool may be the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, but there was a time when star Ryan Reynolds wasn't sure how it would turn out. canonical: https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-04T17:38:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:54.233Z og:title: Ryan Reynolds on How Blake Lively Kept Him 'Sane' During Deadpool og:description: "The expectations were eating me alive" og:url: https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8f95421db927d6a/6988b45eab6d77e0a36ac5fe/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ryan Reynolds Honored With Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ryan Reynolds on How Blake Lively Kept Him 'Sane' During Deadpool twitter:description: "The expectations were eating me alive" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8f95421db927d6a/6988b45eab6d77e0a36ac5fe/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ryan Reynolds on How Blake Lively Kept Him 'Sane' During _Deadpool_ Anxiety  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 4, 2017 5:38 PM UTC  Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively attend the ceremony honoring Ryan Reynolds with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 15, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively attend the ceremony honoring Ryan Reynolds with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 15, 2016 in Hollywood, California.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 4, 2017 5:38 PM UTC [_Deadpool_](http://time.com/4620329/deadpool-most-pirated-movie-2016/)may be the [highest-grossing R-rated movie](http://time.com/4274867/deadpool-box-office-record/) in box office history, but there was a time when star [Ryan Reynolds](http://time.com/4596665/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-wolverine-crossover/) wasn’t sure how it would turn out. During a recent interview with [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2017/film/features/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-golden-globes-1201951103/), the 40-year-old actor spoke about the severe anxiety he experienced while working on the popular superhero flick. “I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle — just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time,” he said. “By the time we were in post \[production\], we’d been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive.” However, he luckily had wife Blake Lively to support him through the difficult period. “Blake helped me through that,” Reynolds said. “I’m lucky to have her around just to keep me sane.” Read more at [Variety.com](http://variety.com/2017/film/features/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-golden-globes-1201951103/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/"},"headline":"Ryan Reynolds on How Blake Lively Kept Him 'Sane' During Deadpool Anxiety","datePublished":"2017-01-04T17:38:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:54.233Z","description":"\"The expectations were eating me alive\"","url":"https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities","Blake Lively","Ryan Reynolds","Deadpool"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8f95421db927d6a/6988b45eab6d77e0a36ac5fe/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8f95421db927d6a/6988b45eab6d77e0a36ac5fe/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ryan Reynolds Honored With Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame","caption":"Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively attend the ceremony honoring Ryan Reynolds with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 15, 2016 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4621986/ryan-reynolds-blake-lively-deadpool-anxiety/","name":"Ryan Reynolds on How Blake Lively Kept Him 'Sane' During Deadpool Anxiety"}}]}] ```