Ryan Reynolds was afraid to take on the role of Pikachu

Cape Town - Ryan Reynolds was nervous about joining the cast of Pokemon Detective Pikachu because of how popular the gaming franchise is.

The Deadpool actor voices the character Pikachu in the live-action film set to hit South African cinemas on Friday, 17 May.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed that he was very nervous taking on the role because of the character's popularity, but after reading the script, he felt less pressure.

"There's a reason that Pokémon's been a worldwide cultural phenomenon for so long and people are so passionate about it. But it was a great story, and it worked whether you had Pokémon in it or not," said Ryan.

In another interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 42-year-old shared that he did not want to use his voice for the character.

He told the late-night host he wanted to alter his voice to an old school Columbo/Brooklyn kind of thing.

But the team behind the film shot it down and advised him to do Ryan Reynolds.

.@VancityReynolds wanted Pikachu to have a Brooklyn accent for @DetPikachuMovie https://t.co/qvsKB4SUR4 pic.twitter.com/Gebv7dD15m

— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) May 3, 2019