Ryan Reynolds has revealed his gambling skills could do with some polishing up, even after portraying a gambler in Mississippi Grind.

The Safe House star plays a traveller who becomes friends with a compulsive gambler – played by Ben Mendelsohn – after meeting at a poker game. The pair embark on a road trip in the comedy-drama, written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

At the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Ryan joked that they indulged in those vices during the shoot, saying: “There was a little drinking, a little gambling and a little rehab. I like all of that stuff.

“It’s fun because you know it ends. You can gamble a little bit and you know you can go home without a crippling addiction.”

But he added: “There was more money lost than won. This was not a big-budget film and I think we spent our fee in about an hour on the first day. I’m a terrible gambler. I watch him (Ben) – he’s a very good poker player.”

A picture of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at a premiere
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds married in September 2012 (Matt Sayles/AP)

The 38-year-old actor also said it wasn’t easy being away from his family.

The Canadian actor became a father for the first time in December, when wife Blake Lively gave birth to their daughter, and admitted to USA Today: “I’m shaken a little bit because this is the first day I have been away.”

He said fatherhood has changed his life, adding: “It’s amazing how you can be so happy and then so exhausted in the same moment. It’s like cocaine without the dark alleys of shame.”