Ryan Reynolds might be best known for his sarcastic humor and quick wit, but The Adam Project director Shawn Levy said the sci-fi film features one of the actor's best dramatic performances.

"When we signed up for a time-travel adventure, I'm not sure that either one of us knew it would become one of his greatest dramatic performances of his career," Levy told Total Film. "The amount of emotional authenticity he brings to this performance... we expect him to be a movie star, heroic and funny. But we don't expect Ryan Reynolds to make us cry."

RELATED: Ryan Reynolds Trades Superhero Tights for Time Travel in First Adam Project Teaser

Netflix's The Adam Project is a high-concept sci-fi adventure that centers on a time-traveling fighter pilot who teams up his younger self (Walker Scobell) and his late father (Mark Ruffalo) in an attempt to save the future. Reynolds, who lost his own father in 2020, said he went on an emotional journey while making the '80s-style adventure movie.

"There are lines written in the script that I put there because they're true," Reynolds said. "There's a line in the movie that my younger self says: 'I know why you hate [your father]. You're you because he died.' I think that's part of the reason I had a frustration with my own father -- it's that he died, and I wasn't able to say and do the things I wanted to do with him. I wasn't able to experience all the good parts of him or reconcile some of the bad parts of him. So I think that lands as well."

RELATED: Ryan Reynolds Teams With His Younger Self in Time-Traveling Adam Project Clip

Despite the film's emotional undercurrent, Reynolds promised it's also "a very fun, popcorn, space-time continuum sort of extravaganza." He previously described The Adam Project as a throwback to classic '80s movies like E.T., Back to the Future and The Goonies. Although time travel plays a major role in the film, Levy and Reynolds recently explained they "didn't get too mired in the rules" of the genre, as "the goal was to make a time travel movie that felt really grounded."

The Adam Project marks the second collaboration between Reynolds and Levy, who delivered one of the biggest box office hits of 2021 with the video game-themed action-comedy Free Guy. 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell recently revealed that Free Guy is getting the franchise treatment, suggesting that multiple sequels and spinoffs are in development. Asbell also confirmed that the script for a Free Guy sequel is nearly complete.

The Adam Project debuts on Netflix on March 11.

KEEP READING: The Adam Project Has Fans Excited for a 13 Going on 30 Reunion

Source: Total Film, via GamesRadar+