Hugh Jackman is pleading with the Academy Awards to not nominate Ryan Reynolds for his song, “Good Afternoon,” from his 2022 Christmas movie, Spirited.
Jackman, who has been engaged in a long-running joke feud with Reynolds, released a video on Wednesday (4 January) begging the Academy to leave Reynolds out of the Best Music (Original Song) award shortlist.
The Academy included “Good Afternoon” on its list of 15 original songs eligible for the March ceremony.
Jackman kicked off the piece, saying: “Hey everybody, it’s 2023 and I really really wanted to send out a positive message at the beginning of the year, but recent events have made that impossible. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved Spirited. It’s a great movie… I love Will [Ferrell], I love Octavia [Spencer] … the song ‘Good Afternoon’, I laughed the entire way through, it is absolutely brilliant,” he continued.
“However, I just heard the Academy have short-listed ‘Good Afternoon’ [for the 2023 Oscars].
“Now, Ryan Reynolds getting a nomination in the Best Song category would make the next year of my life insufferable. I have to spend a year with him shooting Wolverine and Deadpool,” Jackman adds, referencing the upcoming Deadpool 3 film. “Trust me, it would be impossible. It would be a problem.”
“So, just to recap, love Spirited, love Will, love Octavia, love the song ‘Good Afternoon,’ love Benj and Justin,” Jackman concluded. “But please, please, from the bottom of my heart – do not validate Ryan Reynolds in this way. Please.”
Hugh Jackman’s Broadway run in The Music Man will soon come to an end as he prepares to shoot the third Deadpool movie with Ryan Reynolds. Fans of the two actors have long been aware of their mutual appreciation, making Reynolds’ recent Oscar nomination a bittersweet moment for Jackman. Although Jackman has not received an Oscar nomination for his musical work yet, he did receive a Grammy in 2019 for The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
In September, Reynolds and Jackman revealed Deadpool 3, which is scheduled for a theatrical release on September 6, 2024.