Ryan Reynolds Once Escaped Denzel Washington’s Wrath After Ruining Their ‘Safe House’ Scene

Ryan Reynolds had a couple of nerve-racking moments when working alongside Denzel Washington in Safe House. On one occasion, Reynolds almost risked angering his disciplined co-star by accidentally sabotaging their scene.

How Ryan Reynolds messed up his ‘Safe House’ scene with Denzel Washington without anyone knowing

Reynolds was paired with the Oscar-winner for the first time when Washington played a villain in their 2012 thriller. Washington was already a huge incentive for Reynolds to climb on board the project. Seeing as Washington was one of Reynolds’ favorite stars, he wanted to make a good impression. But during a take he was doing with Washington, Reynolds found himself upsetting his co-star instead.

“So Denzel’s doing this scene and I guess my bony little ass is pressing the button on the phone,” Reynolds once told David Letterman (via OK!). “With Denzel, you know, you get one or two takes and it’s brilliant and you move on. And you know my butt’s pressing this button and suddenly I hear, he starts singing ‘Come fly with me, come fly let’s fly away,’ so I guess I activated the iPod on the thing, so there’s music now playing in the scene.”

This notably drew attention from everyone on the set, including Washington.

“I want to be legally dead at this point I ruined the scene,” he said.

But Reynolds had a backup plan to get out of his embarrassing situation unscathed.

“Right at the end of the scene they call cut and you just hear everyone freak out behind the camera, ‘Who the hell’s cell phone is that?’ Denzel looks over and goes, ‘Who the hell’s cell phone is that?’ They all look at me and I just stand up and I’m like, ‘Who’s f***ing cell phone is that? Come on,’” Reynolds recalled.

Denzel Washington made Ryan Reynolds feel bad about giving him a black eye

That wasn’t the only time Reynolds had an uncomfortable moment with Washington. The Deadpool star also accidentally struck Washington with a bit too much force during an intense scene. Reynolds has been very open about the incident, and recalled bracing himself for the backlash that would follow his attack on Washington.

“I practically had to wear an adult diaper before this, before doing a fight scene with Denzel,” Reynolds once said according to IndieWire. “I mean, I’ve seen Hurricane! And now I’ve given him a black eye! That was my early retirement — time to go home. That first look he gave me after it happened, it was definitely real, and my face was on fire.”

Washington didn’t seem to mind the accident too much. But he joked that he wanted to put a bit of pressure on Reynolds since it was his first time sustaining the injury.

“I tried to make him feel bad about it,” Washington said. “I was like, ‘What the …!’ I’ve never had a black eye in my life, but I can’t say that anymore.”

What Ryan Reynolds learned from Denzel Washington

Reynolds was able to watch and study his more experienced co-star. What he managed to pick up from the Training Day actor was his work ethic.

“He brings a kind of discipline I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It’s just in his DNA,” Reynolds once told CBS News.

But Washington asserted that he didn’t consciously try to teach his younger partner anything.

“I’m busy doing my job,” Washington said. “No matter how far along you get in this business, I think there’s still a certain fear that you don’t want to screw up. You want to do a good job. So if he learned from any of that, good.”