Starring opposite Sandra Bullock in the romantic comedy The Proposal, natural funny man Ryan Reynolds proves once again to be the very definition of a scene stealer.

With his roots in improv, Ryan Reynolds is used to thinking on his feet. He spots a trick question a mile off -even when it's not a trick question. Ask him if he likes dogs (as does his character in The Proposal), and he looks suspicious. "Well, not in that sense! Everything sounds different in print. That'll read, 'I love animals,' says Ryan Reynolds'." When FILMINK congratulates him on being levelheaded, Reynolds quips, "Yeah. That's the Xanax! Only joking," before adding somewhat unnecessarily, "That's a joke!"

It's his marriage to actress Scarlett Johansson that has made Reynolds more guarded, although today we're discussing his other leading lady, Sandra Bullock. The Proposal marks Bullock's first foray into the arena of romantic comedy in some time, after having sworn off the genre several years back. Reynolds gallantly describes it as "a privilege" to have been there for her comeback, which includes sharing a sixty-second nude scene, which took two days to film. "The nude scene with Sandy was difficult and fun," Reynolds says. "It was hysterical. It was like shooting high budget comedic porno!"

In The Proposal, Bullock's Canadian-born book editor makes Reynolds' life a living hell until she faces deportation, and then begs him to marry her. It's an interesting, and entirely accidental, twist on Reynolds' own real-life scenario - the Vancouver-born actor moved to Hollywood, where he eventually earned his Green Card through sheer talent rather than marriage. "I came to LA when I was eighteen," Reynolds explains. "I was lucky enough to get a job in the film industry right before all my money ran out."

If obtaining a Green Card presented little problem then, like his character in The Proposal, Reynolds has suffered his own nightmare bosses in the past. "Most of my bosses have been terrible," he laughs. "I've always had a little issue with authority, especially when I was young. I had a boss at a restaurant in Vancouver, which I think doubled as a Peruvian coke shack or something, because nobody ever came into the restaurant to eat. The cook was rarely there, and I had nothing to do all day except usher people into the back room, from which they would subsequently leave more agitated and animated. That was an awful job. The boss would lose his mind regularly. When you work for a crappy boss, you do crappy work. It's much better to be loved than feared in that category. I had a lot of jobs between the ages of fifteen and eighteen in Canada. I worked as a waiter and in grocery stores on the graveyard shift from midnight to 8:00am. I did that for eighteen months. I also worked at a yacht club, which was basically the most humiliating thing that I've ever done. All day long, I was serving the sons and daughters of obscene wealth. They'd never let you forget it, and they'd actually call you 'boy'. I've always found that so funny though - why on earth would you insult the person that's making your food?! I could take your life!"

While rarely unemployed for long, it wasn't until 2002's sexy comedy Van Wilder that Hollywood began paying attention, with Reynolds eventually scoring lead roles in the likes of Foolproof , Smokin' Aces, Definitely Maybe and The Amityville Horror. His five-year relationship with Canadian singer Alanis Morissette didn't hurt his public profile either, although no-one can accuse him of capitalising on it. Reynolds refuses to discuss his romantic affairs, end of story. If his career failed to ignite as fast as he hoped, today he cites his height as being something of a drawback in his early days. "There are so many tall leading men nowadays - it's actually quite refreshing. When I started out though, I'd lose jobs because the lead actor would find out that I'm 6'2" and go, 'I'm not standing next to that.' So that can be a bit of an issue, but nowadays there are all these big guys; Hugh Jackman is 6'3" and Vince Vaughn is 6'20"!"

This recent period, however, has been what Reynolds himself describes as a "banner year". He's effectively and impressively crossed genres, starring in an action movie (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), an indie comedy (Adventureland) and a romantic comedy (The Proposal). Capping it all is the news that Reynolds will soon star in his very own X-Men spin-off as the wisecracking mercenary mutant Deadpool, a role that Reynolds says he was born to play. "I'm very excited about it," the actor enthuses. "I've wanted to do Deadpool for a long time. I remember reading a Deadpool comic book years and years ago, and someone asked him, 'What do you look like under that mask?' Deadpool replies, 'I look like a cross between a Shar-Pei and Ryan Reynolds."

The Proposal is released on June 18.