Young actress Cailey Fleming has a long list of very high-profile co-stars in John Krasinski's new film IF – and the Walking Dead star has revealed how working with one of them in particular came with some challenges.

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Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the film's release, Fleming revealed that Ryan Reynolds made her laugh so much during their scenes together that she kept messing up her takes.

“I was always laughing," she grinned. "Anytime Ryan was on set, I would always mess up the take, because I would be laughing!"

She added, "But yeah, he had a lot of good ideas. I was just shocked to see how his mind worked... he would just, like, throw out all these ideas. And he would, like, give me a note. And I'm like, I don't even know... I would have never thought of that!

"So it was just really cool to get a different perspective on it. But Ryan was so sweet. He has a really big heart. And I think you'll see that a lot in this movie."

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Aside from the challenge of keeping a straight face, one scene in particular that Fleming was nervous about was a huge song and dance number set to Tina Turner classic Better Be Good To Me – a sequence that she initially wasn't even meant to be in.

Cailey Fleming as Bea in IF. She is looking at a giant fluffy purple creature who is smiling.
Cailey Fleming as Bea in IF. Paramount

“I was terrified," she said of shooting the scene. "Originally, I wasn't in that scene at all. But I have been dancing since I was one, and John had no idea.

"So Mandy Moore was our choreographer, and she pulled me to the side one day while we were doing prep, and taught me a little piece of the beginning. And then she videoed it and send it to John.

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"And he texts me and he was like: 'You can dance?' And I was like, 'Yeah i've been dancing for, like, 14 years,' and he had no idea. So then he put me in the dance number. And I was so nervous, because it's always been my dream to dance in a movie. So I just wanted it to be perfect.

"But it was perfect. I cried happy tears because I was just so excited.”

Fleming plays the main role of Bea in the film, which follows her adventures after she moves in with her grandmother and discovers she has the rare ability to see everyone's imaginary friends – a power shared by Reynolds's character Cal.

IF is released in UK cinemas on Friday 17th May 2024.

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