Three ghosts paying a visit? Bah. While filming “Spirited,” their musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell were haunted by something far more terrifying.
The comedic duo was terrified of the prospect of performing full-throated singing and dancing.
Not the silly singing we’ve seen Ferrell do on “SNL” or Reynolds’ rendition of “Careless Whisper” crooned during the “Deadpool” credits.
“Spirited” (which will be available on AppleTV+ on Friday) is the real deal, with original songs written by Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) and performed by top Broadway dancers.
“It’s not the same as messing around in a sketchbook. This makes singing seem more genuine and sincere “Ferrell explains. “A high level of dread set in when it became clear what level of song and dance execution would be expected.”
Reynolds increased the level of stress.
“I was at the highest threat level, red, and I’ve never returned,” he says. “It actually got up into puce, which is a very specific dark red that I never want to see again.”
Sean Anders, the novel’s writer and director, had faith in the two stars for his “Spirited” concept, which depicts an entire industry built around annual hauntings in the nearly 200 years since Ebenezer Scrooge changed for good after three ghostly Christmas Eve visitors.
As the seasoned Ghost of Christmas Present, Ferrell embarks on a song-and-dance-filled mission to redeem the year’s most repulsive human, Reynolds’ cynical marketing guru Clint Briggs.
They have a musical history. Ferrell performed a song in Mel Brooks’ 2005 comedy “The Producers,” as well as in the 2020 Netflix film “Eurovision.” Reynolds proudly recalls singing “It Takes Two” in bed with Sandra Bullock in 2009’s “The Proposal.”
Anders also discovered a YouTube video of the “Deadpool” star wearing a unicorn mask and singing “Tomorrow” from “Annie” on South Korean reality show “Masked Singer” in 2018.
Reynolds attempts to explain: “This was prior to the release of ‘Masked Singer’ in the United States. So I assumed this was an obscure South Korean show. Nobody is ever going to see or hear about this. It was terrifying and traumatic, but also enjoyable. That’s my singing career – beginning, middle, and end – in three minutes, I thought. Little did I realise.”
The co-stars both stated unequivocally, and the videos prove it, that they were not in the league of “Greatest Showman” star Hugh Jackman. Reynolds claims he even sought advice from his favourite sparring partner.
“I spoke briefly with Hugh Jackman about it. It’s in his blood, he’s so good at it “Reynolds claims. “Clearly, he was no help.”
They even told Pasek and Paul to take it easy on the songs.
“‘Hey, we’re not professional singers,’ I just said. ‘Remember that,’ “says Ferrell, who was disturbed by the songwriters’ soul-baring demo tapes of their new songs. “‘You guys can pull this off,’ they said. ‘What? Are you sure?’ it was like.”
Even before the “hardcore” full-time work began seven weeks before shooting in Boston, Anders sent song and dance instructors to Ferrell and Reynolds’ homes for training. Those sessions included all-day song, dance, and even tap-dancing. “And tap is just as athletic as any other sport,” Ferrell says. “It’s extremely difficult.”
Reynolds’ subconscious was influenced by the intensive sessions, which resulted in vivid stress dreams.
“I had some really bad ones. And I’m not making this up, either “he claims. “The songs were such earworms that they literally kept me awake at night. They would not leave my mind.”
Ferrell, too, had sleepless nights, reaching rock bottom one fitful morning when he bolted awake before dawn.
“I found myself walking around the Boston Commons at 4:30 a.m. listening to the tracks and performing them to no one other than strange passersby,” he says, admitting he looked very disturbed. “‘That guy looks like Will Ferrell,’ they were probably thinking. It would be heartbreaking if that were him.’ But it was my fault.”
All of their new abilities were put to use in the undeniably lively song “Good Afternoon.” Ferrell and Reynolds led 45 professional dancers down Boston’s Marshall Street, which had been dusted with fake snow in the middle of summer to simulate a London winter.
The sweltering actors, dressed in tweed and wool, took turns botching the final complicated tap move five days into the shoot.
“One of us would make a mistake,” Reynolds predicts. “And you’d have to start all over again.”
The wide-eyed duo eventually produced a magical take. They may have skipped a step or two, but the number was carried all the way through.
“We were drenched,” Reynolds says. “However, we got it.”
“We hugged so hard that our bones cracked,” Ferrell says. “It was as if we had won Olympic gold.”
