Ryan Reynolds Explains The Adam Project’s Strange Face/Off Joke

Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy explain a strange Face/Off reference and how it came to be in The Adam Project. Reynolds is the star of The Adam Project, playing a time-traveling pilot who runs into his younger self on a mission to find his missing wife. Along the way, the duo team up, eventually hopping back in time again to enlist the help of their father, played by Mark Ruffalo, who is a prominent scientist and university professor. The film is directed by Levy and additionally stars Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldaña, and Catherine Keener.

Face/Off is a 1997 action film starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, directed by John Woo. The high-concept movie has Travolta’s FBI Agent swap faces with Cage’s terrorist mastermind in order to infiltrate his conspirators to stop a bomb from going off. The film was a hit, particularly highlighting Woo’s strong visual style and slow-motion balletic action. It has since become a beloved classic, inspiring a deep appreciation and even a number of memes. One such meme has been turned into merchandise, which has a simple image of Nicolas Cage with the words “John Travolta” written underneath, alluding to the movie’s concept, which makes an appearance in The Adam Project.

During a lecture scene in The Adam Project, Ruffalo’s character is talking to a student who is wearing a sweatshirt of the Face/Off meme. According to Reynolds (via Collider), the sweatshirt belonged to him, as it was given to him as a Christmas gift, which is when they were shooting the film. Reynolds shared an image of the sweatshirt with Levy, suggesting they put it in the movie somewhere, which ended up being the lecture scene with Ruffalo. Here’s Reynolds full explanation on how the strange Face/Off meme made it into the film:

Really wish we could have thrown some headphones on Walker in an action scene with some Louis Armstrong playing and a single white dove arcing across the screen John Woo style. The Face/Off thing was just a totally random… Kate Vorhoff, who runs B for Effort, which is my wife’s production company with my wife, gave that to me as a Christmas present and I thought it was awesome. And we happened to be shooting The Adam Project over that period. So I called Shawn or I think I sent a photo of it to you, Shawn. So we got to put this in and I know just the spot. Next thing you know, we are rewriting Mark’s scene together and we added this little piece about it and that’s-

Levy concurred with Reynold’s explanation and talked about how it’s an example of their working relationship together, which institutes “tiny, little, random, instinctive, weird shit ideas” that pop up between the two frequently, turning into leads that make their way into the movie. “They end up taking a lecture hall university scene and giving it like this weird little moment that is idiosyncratic, and for us, makes the character more interesting, makes the scene more interesting,” said Levy. Both Levy and Reynolds previously worked together on Free Guy and will reteam yet again for Deadpool 3, the next chapter in Reynold’s superhero box office behemoth that’s sure to capitalize on more of those strange ideas.

Reynolds has typically been known for his keen wit and pop-culture references throughout his work, which is part of his charm. Using a funny Christmas gift in his latest film, particularly a strange Face/Off sweatshirt, is perfectly on-brand for the actor. Both Free Guy and The Adam Project took advantage of the referential material, as the Easter Eggs are aplenty in both films. In this instance, the celebration of a classic 90s action movie from John Woo is a deeper cut for some fans, which makes it all the more fun in The Adam Project, a high-concept sci-fi flick in its own right, just with less slow motion doves flying around.

Source: Collider

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