Ryan Reynolds most recent movie Safehouse is due to be released onto Blu-Ray and DVD this week. In light of its release Getfrank had the opportunity to find out what Ryan thought of the movie and what he looks forward to in the future.

Would you make a good CIA agent in real life?

Oh man, I'm in trouble with that. I don't know. I'm a terrible liar. My face does weird things. I get all sorts of ticks. Somebody would say, "Is that the truth?" I don't think I'd make the best CIA agent at all.

Isn't acting about lying?

It is, but I don't know why, the mechanics of it are different. When you're acting you really believe what you're saying.

Maybe that's the trick.

I guess. Maybe it is true. I think it's because there are real stakes in lying, whereas acting is make-believe and just having fun.

Unless you make yourself think that there are real stakes.

That's true, that's true. By the time I leave this interview, I plan on being an expert liar.

I like your character because he's carrying his emotions on his sleeve and he isn't corrupted yet. He still has his idealism. How does one not become cynical if you look at this world that is corrupt?

It's probably very difficult to maintain that. I struggle with it too. You pick up any modern newspaper, and it’s doom and gloom everywhere you go. Even the comic pages are all about murder. I don't know, it's tough. I guess you have to be more judicious with where you get your information. I always find that if you find a website that makes you happy or a book that makes you happy, it's usually better to spend energy on those things than it is to absorb that other crap.

Did you enjoy the physicality of this role, the training and hands-on fighting?

It's very easy to tap into that stuff. I like fight scenes when they're not pretty, when they're ugly, real, mean and gross. That's what they are in real life. I find it really awkward to be in fights that are really gorgeous, like when you're punching and blocking things. Nobody really does that. In real fights you bite people and all sorts of terrible stuff. I like that stuff, and that's what Daniel (Espinosa - director) really wanted for this movie. He wanted really fast and ugly fights.

Denzel versus Ryan: Who would win?

In a fight? I saw The Hurricane, so I'm going to go with Denzel on that one.

On Green Lantern you did a lot of green screen work, and on this it was different.

It's like the anti-Green Lantern.

How do you compare those two experiences as an actor?

I don't put a value judgment on either, but I love that polarity. I was on this stage for 7,000 months where I didn't get to interact with anything other than a green tennis ball, and then here I am doing this movie that feels like it could've been shot in the '70s, like The French Connection. It has that kind of tactile feel. Everything you see is what you get, and I like that a lot. It makes your job much easier. You're pretending instead of accessing just nothing but imagination. Imagination can be exhausting all day, having to imagine this world you're in. To react with what's right in front of you is much easier.

Do you think people are craving these grittier action thrillers because they've overdosed on these green screen blockbusters?

Maybe, I don't know. I think they did it really well with The Town and movies that capture the feel very well. I hope so. I like them. They're good for actors too. This movie didn't have a huge budget like a superhero movie. When you're dealing with those huge budgets, studios typically want something for that money. They want to play it really safe in between the margins, and that can be a little frustrating for actors. Movies like this are more fun because you can have a little bit more flexibility.

Given the title of the movie, what is your safe house?

I have a few places with my family. There's some familiarity there. I grew up with brothers, so when I'm around them I feel pretty safe.

What does the word hero mean to you, and when was the last time you felt like a rookie?

I feel like a rookie lots of times in my life, but I think anytime anyone is overcoming fear or personal adversity in any way and carrying on in spite of that fear, that's heroism. To me that would be the textbook definition of it. I've felt like a rookie all sorts of times. Like being in Cape Town and driving on the wrong side of the road during a stunt. I felt like a pretty big rookie. I remember the first time we shot the scene where I stuffed Denzel in the trunk, I ran around the wrong side of the car to get in and drive away. My reflex was to go to the left side, and I needed to go to the right.

Is there something new that you have learned about yourself through acting that you were not aware of before?

When you're an actor you're constantly putting yourself in an introspective position. You're always thinking, about how somebody who's been in this situation would behave.  It really grows empathy because you start to think about other people and think outside of yourself. If I were a reporter from a foreign country, how would it feel coming into one of these rooms for the first time? I'd be pretty nervous interviewing these actors. Are they going to be assholes? What are they going to be? So you start to think about being in the shoes of other people, and it's a really, really healthy thing to do. I think any psychoanalytical textbook will tell you that's a healthy thing to do. This is why I'm always surprised when you meet actors who are incredibly narcissistic, because all you do all day is think about what it is like to be someone else. How are you so into yourself? By and large, I find actors to be very congenial, kind people.

If you were to go back in time, would you choose acting again as a profession?

I wouldn't change this, no. For all its ups and downs, it's been a beautiful experience for me, so I wouldn't change it.

Could you talk about your physical training for this film, from the hand-to-hand combat to the CIA training?

I've done tons of gunplay before, and I come from a whole long family of cops. I'm used to that stuff. The physical training was primarily just fight choreography, nothing too crazy. The driving training was really exciting. Testing a car's limits to its maximum was really something I loved doing, and spending time at the CIA was really eye-opening to see what the job is like and just a complete lack of glamour. You think these guys are all about their poison dart cufflinks and it's all very James Bond, but it's not. It's a very lonely pursuit filled with lies and corruption and all kinds of sacrifice. Most CIA agents at the top of their level make $50,000 or $60,000 per year. It's not a high-paying job, it's not glamorous, it's really tough work.

Is it hard to find people in Hollywood who are so well-read or interested?

It's tough to find someone who's been doing it for a long time to be that focused and interested. Daniel is young and hungry, and all he really wants to do is make good movies. He really doesn't care about money or any of those other things, so to be around that is always exciting.

In real life, are you quick at thinking on your feet? Have you been in similar situations as your character?

In the few times in my life where I've been in what I would characterize as a life or death situation, I find that - and I don't know if most people are like this - time slows down. I think that's a survival instinct to allow you to process the information that you're seeing and act accordingly. The few times I've been in those situations you react in a way that's appropriate, and you're shocked afterwards: "Wow, I really reacted so quickly to that. I didn't expect that." I like to think I would do okay in a profession like that, but who knows if you're exposed to repeated incidents like that, maybe you don't stay that way.

Well, the fact that you're still sitting here breathing...

Yeah, I guess so. That's a testament to that, for sure.

You haven't played a bad guy so far. Would you like to play a villain?

Yeah, I think so. I would be a good person to play a bad guy because I like to think that I don't seem like a bad guy. Hollywood has a long-standing tradition of offering the villain role to the mustache twister, so if I were directing a movie and needed a villain, I would hire the least likely villain on earth. My villain might be Woody Allen.

Do you think you would like to direct a movie? 

I believe I could. It would have to be something that I'm extremely passionate about. It's a year of your life, it's not like being an actor on a movie where you're just in and out. It would have to be something that would really grab me in a way to want to tell that story. 

Is there any project coming up on the horizon?

You really have to start reading things for that reason, and I haven't done that yet. I just have my hands full with this other stuff, but I'm about to take some time off, so that could change.

What genre would you like to do?

I don't know. I've been lucky enough to do every genre that exists, so I'd have to think about which one I felt like [I'd do]. I don't think it would be a thriller or anything like that. I think it would be something more along the lines of a human interest story or quirky comedy story.