“ No part of me was recall whenDeadpoolwas finally greenlit that this would be a succeeder , ” he said .

Everybody lovesRyan Reynolds. There’s no doubt about it. So, prepare yourself to love him SO much more (if that’s even possible).

Ahead of the release ofDeadpool& Wolverine, Ryan recalled filming the firstDeadpoolmovie during an interview with theNew York Times.

Not only did he reveal that he didn’t think the movie would be successful, but he also said that he paid the movie’s screenwriters, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, out-of-pocket so that they could be on set.

“No part of me was thinking whenDeadpoolwas finally greenlit that this would be a success,” he said. At its release,Deadpoolwas the number-one movie at the box office during its opening weekend and made over$132 million. The movie’s total gross is over $363 million…so I guess we can say it was pretty successful.

“I even let go of getting paid to do the movie just to put it back on the screen: They wouldn’t allow my cowriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick on set, so I took the little salary I had left and paid them to be on set with me so we could form a de facto writers room,” he continued.

“It was a lesson in a couple of senses,” he added. “I think one of the great enemies of creativity is too much time and money, and that movie had neither time nor money. It really fostered focusing on character over spectacle, which is a little harder to execute in a comic-book movie.”

“I was just so invested in every micro-detail of it, and I hadn’t felt like that in a long, long time. I remembered wanting to feel that more — not just onDeadpool, but on anything.”

Back in 2016, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick revealed that they’d been working on theDeadpoolscript alongside Ryan for at least six years prior. “It was really a core creative team of us, Ryan, and the director Tim Miller. Fox, interestingly, wouldn’t pay for us to be on set. Ryan Reynolds paid out of his own money, out of his own pocket,” they said. And even though Ryan was a co-collaborator on that first film, he didn’t receive a writing credit untilDeadpool 2.

And now that the franchise is such a success, Ryan explained that he didn’t want “more money” than they needed to makeDeadpool & Wolverine. “Necessity is the mother of invention. The more constraints you place on a creative process, the more you think outside of the box,” he said. “So, personally, I didn’t want more money than we needed. We wanted just enough money to make what we set out to make, but also find ways to creatively pivot.”

We love a frugal king!

Deadpool & Wolverinereleases in theaters on July 26.

Ryan Reynolds at a press event, wearing a casual shirt with a nature-themed design and beige pants, promoting "Deadpool & Wolverine"

Deadpool character in full costume with red and black suit and swords on his back, looking directly at the camera

Rob Liefeld, Ryan Reynolds, and Rhett Reese at a Deadpool event. Ryan wears a dark suit, white shirt, and tie. Rob and Rhett are in dark suits with no ties

Deadpool, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead in a scene from a movie. Deadpool is dramatically covering his face with his hands. Colossus stands with arms crossed

Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool costume and director Tim Miller on a highway set with crashed cars in the background, filming a scene for the movie Deadpool

Ryan Reynolds sits and smiles, wearing a casual shirt and holding a microphone

Deadpool holds a boombox over his head in front of a taxi with Negasonic Teenage Warhead looking out the window

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in a yellow suit and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in a red suit are walking side by side on a street with shops in the background