With his glasses and spotted blue T-shirt, you might mistake the man on stage for a tourist in Dubai. However, it was Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds addressing the crowd at the Global Freight Summit in Dubai’s Expo City on November 19.
His session, titled 'Playing for the Big Leagues – From The Movie Theatre to Disrupting Business,' was moderated by UAE-based Virgin Radio presenter Kris Fade. Fade quickly remarked on Reynolds’ friendly demeanor, saying, “You hear people say, ‘Ryan Reynolds, he can't be that nice all the time.’ But for a moment backstage, I thought, well, he is.”
The session started with Reynolds discussing the lessons he learned from his colleagues, particularly his Deadpool and Wolverine co-star Hugh Jackman. “When I was younger…[I] really did my best to absorb as much as I could,” he recalled. “Jackman was one of the first big movie stars I worked with in 2000. He was such a gentleman, kind to everyone, and knew every crew member's name. He didn’t differentiate in a hierarchical way; he just loved people. That really stayed with me.”
Reynolds also talked about how show business can sometimes reward bad behavior and how fortunate he was that his rise to fame came when he was old enough to handle it. “The first Deadpool movie changed my life, but it happened in my mid-30s. My frontal lobe had fully developed by then… I was old enough to enjoy [fame],” he joked.
He added that his production company, Maximum Effort, focuses on bringing people together in smart, fun, and unexpected ways. “Joy is in short supply in 2024, and when we’re telling stories, being joyful and bringing people together is more important now than ever.” Reynolds believes that film, sports, and music are among the last great arenas where people can come together, regardless of their differences.
The Global Freight Summit, running until November 20, features a star-studded lineup including Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who will speak on the third day of the event.
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