Original-Cin Q&A: The Adam Project director Shawn Levy talks Ryan Reynolds and Time-Travels to his Bar Mitzvah

If you had the chance to go back in time and revisit your 12 year old self and make some changes would you even want to? 

That’s the premise of The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds and newcomer Walker Scobell.   Reynolds plays Adam Reed, a time-traveling fighter pilot from the future who crash-lands back to Earth in 2022, and meets the person he's spent years trying to outgrow: his 12-year-old self. 

Reynolds also produced the film, along with director Shawn Levy. The two most recently collaborated on the hit movie Free Guy. 

The Adam Project also reunites Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo as Adam’s parents. The last time they worked together was in 2004’s 13 Going On 30.

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Shawn Levy about the film and what works so well between him and Ryan Reynolds. 

The Adam Project will play in theaters on March 9th only and will begin streaming on Netflix on March 11th,

ORIGINAL-CIN: So clearly, this collaboration with Ryan Reynolds works. Hugh Jackman who you worked with on Real Steel  initially introduced you. So, besides being great Canadians, why does it work so well with the two of you? 

SHAWN LEVY:  I think that in addition to the fact that we come to this partnership with real mutual respect, it has to do with the fact that our attitudes towards work and life are very similar. We both believe in working our tails off so we come prepared and ready to work. 

But we also don't want to confuse work and our personal lives. So we work our tails off and then we happily go home to our wives and daughters. Both matter to us and so the rhythm of how we approach life hits hard. 

Shawn Levy

Go be a dad, go be a husband, we share that value system and we understand that. The kind of the imperative value of that balance and it's just a fluke that we both crave that balance. So I feel it's why we've always gotten along pretty effortlessly. 

O-C: It’s probably not easy finding a child actor who can go toe-to-toe with Ryan Reynolds. But Walker Scobell, who plays 12-year old Adam, and who never did really anything before this film, truly holds his own. How did you find this kid? 

LEVY: Thankfully, I have enough of a brain in my head to have hired Carmen Cuba to cast this project. She does Stranger Things for us. So, I've seen firsthand that she is really like a Jedi master at finding young talent.  

We found Walker and instantly knew he was great. What I did not know was that he was a crazy Deadpool fan. So he shows up, he's working with his actual Idol, and he can recite the entire movie pretty much word for word. 

Which means he’s already subconsciously got the Ryan rhythm, the Ryan inflection, the Ryan facial expressions. So he was able to channel the Reynolds thing with very little direction. We would just feed him lines and feed him improv jokes, and it would come out of him as if we had a remote control programming him.  

O-C: Is time travel something that you are interested in on a personal level? 

LEVY: I'm interested in time travel, but really less as a conceptual topic and more as an emotional concept.  I like movies that make us feel. I like them to watch and I like them as the ones I make. 

So I love taking this time travel premise, which is a rich notion but exploring a story that is emotionally charged. How would you use that time travel ability to reconcile with your own history? Not “save the world” time travel, but “save yourself” time travel. That's The Adam Project. 

O-C: So, what wise words of wisdom would you give yourself  if you could go back to being a 12 year old, maybe aside from changing your Bar Mitzvah invitation list. What would you change? 

LEVY: (Laughing) Oh my God, Bonnie!  I don't know why, but you just triggered me in a very uncomfortable way!  The Bar Mitzvah was fine, pretty painless. It was my mom asking me to sing “Tomorrow” from Annie at the freaking Bar Mitzvah after-party that still scars me. 

So thank you for ripping off that calloused scar tissue. And now I'm just a gaping wound all over again!  Truthfully, There's not much I would change, because even the scars are the things that made me.  Growing up in Montreal was great and it gave me a wonderful personal history that shaped who I am today.  No complaints from my end. 

O-C. Well, thanks for all that you do and from the bottom of my heart I would personally like to thank you for reuniting Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner in this film. (The last time we saw them on screen together was in the 2004 hit film, “13 Going on 30). We needed that reunion! 

LEVY:  I know the world needs it. I didn't even realize how badly the world needed it, but you're welcome, world.