If Daniel Day-Lewis can spend an entire film shoot in a wheelchair, then who says Ryan Reynolds can’t perform similar feats of method acting for the upcoming Detective Pikachu? That’s precisely what the comedic actor says he did in a new promotional bit for the Pokémon family film.
Also, we’re apparently getting a new trailer on Tuesday.
“I lived it, I breathed it, I became the character, I spent the entire year as Detective Pikachu,” Reynolds said in the clip.
“Now as many of you know, I vanish into my roles,” Reynolds continued. “I was on my way to pick up my daughters from school when I heard that I got the role. Well, I didn’t show up at school, because Detective Pikachu, he doesn’t know who those girls are. Who are they?”
Reynolds’ real-world wife, actress Blake Lively, then appears.
“They’re our daughters,” Lively said flatly. “He just left them.”
Reynolds is, of course, emulating the infamous method acting process that has sent legendary actors like Day-Lewis and Christian Bale into some of their most transformative roles. In The Machinist, Bale lost more than 62 pounds to become the titular emaciated machine worker.
Reynolds claims he lived as Detective Pikachu’s 1-foot tall height and tried to lose 182 pounds before doctors intervened.
“He didn’t even change his voice,” Lively said. “It just sounds like him.”
Reynolds seems unperturbed by his wife’s observation.
“The point is, my daughters, they may never see their dad again, but you can be damn sure that when they’re looking up at that big screen this summer that they’re seeing Detective Pikachu,” Reynolds said.
“We’re not going,” Lively said.
Detective Pikachu stars Reynolds as the titular investigator, a different incarnation of the world-famous electric mouse Pokémon. The movie will take place in Rhyme City, a fictional locale populated by both humans and countless Pokémon living in relative harmony. The trailer has already sparked off some great memes, including the angry Jigglypuff. The film, scheduled to debut on May 10, is based on a Nintendo 3DS game series starring a similarly gruff Pikachu.
According to Reynolds on Twitter, we’re getting a new trailer for Detective Pikachu tomorrow, so come back then for all the latest details.
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