Director Patrick Hughes dished on working with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson on the set of Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.

“After the events of the first film,” Hughes said, “we find Michael Bryce, played by Ryan Reynolds, we find him in therapy because he’s got PTSD after surviving a road trip through Europe with Sam Jackson in the first film, who plays Darius Kincaid, notorious hitman. So, we find Ryan in therapy, and then part of his therapy is to take a break from bodyguarding so that’s essentially what Ryan tries attempts at least attempts to do, but then he gets roped back into the chaos as Salma Hayek pulls him out of his sabbatical because Sam Jackson’s in trouble once again.”

Hughes said his favorite part of working with Reynolds was “just every day.”

“Because his character plays this suffering fool, you know? And he goes through the absolute ringer on this film,” Hughes said. “I think he gets run over, he gets shot, he gets stabbed, he gets drugged and he drowns, like everything that could possibly go wrong does go wrong. It was funny to me because Ryan was basically walking around in a tattered suit with cuts and bruises and dried blood all over his face for three months. And just that image alone like Ryan walking up to work looking like some sort of degenerate was really funny.”

Hughes also called Jackson “incredible” and “an icon.”

“And also you look at how many films he’s made?” he said, “it’s like — and all these movie stars, they bring so much energy and so much creativity to set and they’re movie stars for that reason is that they are just incredibly gifted. So it’s an absolute joy and a pleasure and I’m really grateful to work with this level of talent.”

Catch Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard in theaters now.

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