As has been well-reported, Deadpool wasn’t just the biggest film of Ryan Reynolds’ career — it was also a passion project the actor worked tirelessly to bring to the screen. He apparently put his money where his wisecracking mouth was by paying to make sure those scripting his superhero saga were around for the profane mayhem.

On the latest episode of AMC’s Geeking Out (viewable here), Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick revealed that, when Fox refused to pay them to be on-set during production, the film’s marquee star (and former “Sexiest Man Alive”) ponied up the dough to make sure they were available to lend their creative input. As they say in the above clip:

“We were on set every day. Interestingly, Ryan wanted us there. We were on the project for six years. It was really a core creative team of us, Ryan, and the director Tim Miller. Fox, interestingly, wouldn’t pay for us to be on set. Ryan Reynolds paid out of his own money, out of his own pocket.”

While the studio’s decision is hardly an uncommon one, Reynolds’ willingness to forgo some of his own earnings in order to make sure Deadpool hit every one of its R-rated notes speaks volumes about his commitment to the film and the character. That in turn, helped make it the sort of faithful comic-book adaptation that fans adored. And with the Fox hit now the most successful R-rated film in box-office history (with a worldwide gross of $782.6 million), it’s likely Reynolds won’t have to take similar measures when filming begins on the inevitable Deadpool 2.

Related: Read our complete ‘Deadpool’ coverage