Ryan Reynolds Called In a Favor for That Big Free Guy Cameo

Free Guy is pop culture in a blender. Largely set in a video game that feels like a cross between Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto, the movie feels both incredibly familiar and brand new. According to Ryan Reynolds, who stars as a non-playable character named Guy, that's by design. "A wholesale, original non-IP, non-comic-book, non-sequel movie is an increasingly rare unicorn these days," Reynolds tells WIRED. "I remember as a kid getting to see Back to the Future for the first time, and I'm not comparing our movie to Back to the Future, but I kind of wanted it to have a bit of that magic. I love being immersed in a world I'm unfamiliar with, and experiencing real wish-fulfillment is something that harkens back to, like, the Amblin days."