"Too much money will murder creativity": Ryan Reynolds reflects on lessons from Richard Curtis

Ryan Reynolds discussed the creative ideas behind his storytelling and marketing, saying filmmaker Richard Curtis gave him advice that still shapes his work today. While speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City on November 18, Reynolds shared how Curtis, a respected director and writer, gave him valuable guidance in his career.

He mentioned a moment when Curtis emphasized the need for a complete story structure.

“I remember he once said to me when I was very young — I was like 40,” Reynolds said, drawing laughter from the audience. “He said every character has to have a beginning, a middle and an end. [The advice] really kind of stuck with me.”

Reynolds said he took that advice and applied it not just to his movies but also to ad campaigns for brands like Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile. He pointed out the difficulty of creating a full storytelling arc in such tiny timeframes.

“I sort of brought that even into that space with, ‘How do you do that in 30 seconds or 15 seconds as well?’ ” he said. “I really do believe that too much time and too much money will murder creativity — it will just kill it.”

Ryan Reynolds explains how humor, emotion, and soft parenting shape his work and family life

While talking, Reynolds explained how humor and emotion make communication work better in advertising.

He called them tools anyone can use to bring people together instead of pushing them apart.
He didn’t just focus on work, though.

“Well, humor and emotion are the two feelings that I think travel the most,” he said, adding, “Humor works so well, so does emotion. But if you get them together, it really, really just creates togetherness. It creates that feeling that we’re all right now, we’re not divided.”

Reynolds also opened up about his family life and how he raises his kids. He talked about using what he calls “soft parenting” as he and his wife, Blake Lively, bring up their children.

“Soft parenting is new, right? I didn't have that,” he said before adding, “If you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions. You really kind of work from a place that isn’t fight or flight. You actually get to be thoughtful, and you get to think about everybody in the room.”

Reynolds and Lively are parents to four kids: James, who is 10, Inez, who is 9, Betty, who is 6, and Olin, who is 2.