Ryan Reynolds has credited Sandra Bullock, his co-star in the 2009 romantic comedy The Proposal, with helping him recover from a difficult period in his career. Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, he said observing Bullock’s approach to acting and public life helped him take greater control of his own professional choices after several high-profile failures.

Reynolds said he felt he was in “actor jail” after films including Green Lantern (2011) and R.I.P.D. (2013) performed poorly. He described deciding to seek more authorship over his work as life-changing, and also cited Rachel Weisz, his Definitely, Maybe co-star, as an important influence; his later success included the Deadpool films.