Ryan Reynolds recalls thinking his career was over after he accidentally hit Denzel Washington during the shooting of Safe House. Reynolds in recent years has ascended to the top of the Hollywood heap as the star of big blockbuster movies like Deadpool and Free Guy. Washington meanwhile continues to build his reputation as one of the world’s most respected actors while still sprinkling in occasional action movie forays like The Equalizer.
But back in 2012 Reynolds and Washington saw their paths cross when they both starred in the action-packed thriller movie Safe House. Directed by Morbius helmer Daniel Espinosa, the film starred Reynolds as a CIA officer charged with looking over Washington’s veteran operative, who is accused of betraying the agency. As the movie is an action thriller, the titular safe house is soon attacked by mercenaries, sending Reynolds and Washington on the run.
This men-on-the-run scenario indeed created the occasion for a lot of highly-charged action sequences. But one scene in fact got a little out of hand as Reynolds recounted recently to David Letterman on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. As Reynolds remembered, the problems started when he and Washington were packed into a car for a big action sequence (via Insider):
"There's a scene in the movie ... where he crawls through the trunk in the back and he grabs me and chokes me. We were really driving a car at top speed. He and I are in this out-of-control car, and the corner of my head — I felt it hit his eye so hard I was sure that it split wide open. … I'm thinking I'm going to be sent home via crematorium — like, it's over right now, this is it, not only my career but my actual pulse will cease. … He was fine. He was like, 'Hey, accidents happen. Let's do it again. We'll shoot it from the other side so we can keep shooting so we don't see this. … We did it again. I got the other eye, Dave. For a minute he looked like a Christmas ornament."
Thankfully Washington was apparently a pro about being hit in the eye by Reynolds as he simply soldiered on shooting the movie. In one way the end result was arguably not worth the pain though, as Safe House holds only a 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is largely forgotten ten years after its release. But at the time the movie was actually a reasonable-sized hit, grossing $208 million at the box office probably mostly due to the star power of Reynolds and Washington. So perhaps for that reason Washington didn’t mind taking one – or two – for the team.
Of course in the years since Safe House, Reynolds has gone on to become one of the most bankable stars in the world, headlining huge blockbusters like Deadpool and Detective Pikachu. So it’s safe to say his mishap with Washington didn’t hurt his career at all, despite his initial worries. Washington meanwhile continues to get nominated for Oscars, snagging one last year for his role in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Perhaps somewhere down the road Reynolds and Washington will have occasion to reunite on-screen in either a prestige film or an action movie. But hopefully if they do get back together for a Safe House reunion, Reynolds will be able to keep his body under control and not do anymore damage to Washington’s person.
Source: My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (via Insider)