You’ll never guess the crazy things Ryan Reynolds had to do to get the original Deadpool movie made the way he wanted. In a recent interview, he opened up about all the challenges behind the scenes.

Apparently the studio didn’t think the movie would do that well, so they wouldn’t even let Reynolds’ writing partners, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, on set with him! Can you believe that? So Reynolds took matters into his own hands. He used the tiny paycheck he had left to pay them out of his own pocket to be there with him every day. That’s dedication!

Reynolds said one big problem with big movies is that they get too much time and money. That forces focus away from the important stuff like characters. Deadpool didn’t have that issue since it was such a small production. Reynolds says that struggle made them laser focused on the humor and heart of the story.

Luckily, Deadpool ended up being a massive hit. So in the sequel, Reynolds got co-writer credit alongside Reese and Wernick. And now they’re back together again with comic writer Zeb Wells and director Shawn Levy for the new team-up movie Deadpool & Wolverine.

Mark your calendars because Deadpool & Wolverine comes out on July 26th. I can’t wait to see Reynolds’ twisted vision for this one after everything he went through to make the original a reality. Dude really fought for his art – you gotta respect that!