Ryan Reynolds Bio
Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, film producer, and entrepreneur. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the world’s second-highest-paid actor in 2020 and 2024. Reynolds has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for two Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. His films as a leading actor have grossed $6.6 billion worldwide.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Reynolds began acting at the age of thirteen, taking on small roles in various television series. He had his first lead role in the teen soap opera Hillside (1991–1993) then played the lead role in the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001). Reynolds later starred in a range of films, including the commercially successful romantic comedies National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), Waiting… (2005), and The Proposal (2009), the critically unsuccessful superhero films Blade: Trinity (2004), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and Green Lantern (2011), and the biographical drama Woman in Gold (2015).
Early Life and Background
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 23, 1976. His father, James Chester Reynolds, served as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman before retiring and transitioning to work as a foods wholesaler. His mother, Tamara Lee (née Stewart), worked in retail sales. Reynolds has three older brothers and has described himself not as a younger brother to them, but a “moving target” due to his brothers often getting physical, and him being unable to retaliate. He has also shared that his brothers “protected him” from their father, with whom he had a complex and somewhat estranged relationship. Reynolds’s paternal grandfather, Chester, was a farmer who represented Stettler in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1944. Reynolds is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood as well as in Vanier, Ontario (now part of Ottawa).
Reynolds has been involved in acting since the age of thirteen. As a teenager, he attended acting classes—which he failed—and briefly held a day job as a busboy at a restaurant, while also working night shifts at a local grocery store in Vancouver. He described his co-workers in the latter as “the funniest people on Earth” and called them “some of my biggest impressions as a performer.” Reynolds attended Prince of Wales Secondary School for grades nine and ten before getting expelled for stealing a teacher’s car. He attended grades eleven and twelve at Kitsilano Secondary School alongside actor Joshua Jackson, graduating in 1994. Reynolds initially took on minor roles in various television series but became discouraged and left acting at nineteen to enroll at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. A few months later, he encountered fellow actor Chris William Martin, who encouraged him to give acting another chance and relocate with him to Los Angeles.
Path to Hollywood
Reynolds began his career in 1991 in the Canadian teen soap opera Hillside (1991–1993), which was distributed in the United States by Nickelodeon under the title Fifteen. He portrayed Billy Simpson—a character who turned to bullying to cope with family issues and romantic rejections. He made his feature film debut in the coming-of-age drama Ordinary Magic (1993) by playing Jeffrey, an orphan raised in India, who is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to go on a hunger strike in a small town in Canada. Directed by Giles Walker, the film generally received both mixed and disappointing reviews. Between 1993 and 1994, Reynolds took on the dual roles of Macro and Lee in the children’s half-hour television series The Odyssey.
In 1995, Reynolds made his first The Outer Limits appearance in “If These Walls Could Talk.” In 1996, Reynolds made cameo appearances in television shows The X-Files and The John Larroquette Show, playing in the episodes “Syzygy” and “Napping to Success,” respectively. That year, he co-starred with Melissa Joan Hart on the television film Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)—based on the comic book series of the same name—in which he played the titular character’s love interest, Seth. Reynolds portrayed Bobby Rupp, the boyfriend of murdered teenager Nancy Clutter, in the two-part miniseries In Cold Blood (1996), an adaptation of Truman Capote’s 1966 nonfiction novel of the same name. He returned to feature films with the dark comedy The Alarmist (1997), portraying Howard, the teenage son of Gale (Kate Capshaw).
Ryan Reynolds Career
Early Career (1991–2003)
Reynolds’s breakthrough role was as medical student Michael “Berg” Bergen in Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001; initially titled Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place). Although the show was neither as critically nor commercially successful as contemporary shows, Reynolds’s performance received praise, with Variety noting that his “talent and charisma were apparent” and that his “star quality was already in place.” He later took on the minor roles of Henry Lipschitz and Chip in the comedies Coming Soon (1999) and Dick (1999), respectively. In the horror comedy Boltneck (2000), Reynolds starred as Karl, a bullied teenager who is killed and later revived by a “science nerd” named Frank Stein, while he portrayed Quigley in the drama thriller Finder’s Fee (2001). He played the titular character in the romantic comedy National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002), which was critically panned but achieved box office success. Reynolds portrayed Mark Tobias in the commercially unsuccessful action comedy film The In-Laws (2003).
Breakthrough (2004–2009)
Reynolds had a cameo appearance as the nurse in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). Later that year, he made his voice acting debut in the animated television series Zeroman (2004), lending his voice to former secret agent Ty Cheese. Reynolds played the role of Hannibal King in David S. Goyer’s Blade: Trinity (2004), a vampire hunter who joins Blade (Wesley Snipes) to battle Dracula and the vampire clan. To prepare for the role, Reynolds focused on gaining muscle mass, training six days a week and adhering to a 3,200-calorie diet. He gained 24 pounds of muscle in three months. Despite being a success at the box office, the film was negatively received by critics.
Reynolds starred as George Lutz in the supernatural horror film The Amityville Horror (2005)—an adaptation of the 1977 novel and remake of the 1979 film of the same name. He portrayed a man who moves into a supposedly haunted house with his wife, Kathy (Melissa George), and her children. Reynolds then starred as a charismatic waiter named Monty in Rob McKittrick’s comedy Waiting… (2005). In the romantic comedy Just Friends (2005), he played Chris Brander, an overweight high schooler trying to escape the “friend zone” with his best friend during a Christmas visit to his hometown. He later played FBI agent Richard Messner in the crime action film Smokin’ Aces (2006) alongside Ray Liotta.
Notable Works and Milestones
Reynolds achieved his greatest commercial success with the Deadpool franchise, starring as the titular character in Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). His performance in the first received a Golden Globe nomination, while the lattermost emerged as his highest-grossing release. He has since appeared in the sci-fi horror Life (2017), and action films like 6 Underground (2019), Free Guy (2021), and The Adam Project (2022).
Ryan Reynolds Award Nominations
Throughout his career, Ryan Reynolds has received numerous nominations for his work, including a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his role in Deadpool (2016) and Grammy nominations for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the soundtracks of Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
Ryan Reynolds Awards Won
Ryan Reynolds has won multiple awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program for executive-producing the series Welcome to Wrexham. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 15, 2016, and was honored with a Governor General Performing Arts Award on November 26, 2021.
Ryan Reynolds Family
Ryan Reynolds is married to actress Blake Lively, with whom he has four children. He was previously married to actress Scarlett Johansson from 2008 to 2011 and was engaged to singer Alanis Morissette from 2002 to 2007. Reynolds’s father, James, died in 2015 following a twenty-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Personal Life
Reynolds has openly discussed his lifelong struggle with anxiety, revealing that he often conducted interviews in character as Deadpool to help manage his fears. He attained American citizenship around 2018 and voted for the first time in the 2020 presidential election. Reynolds and Lively are close friends with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who named the characters in her song “Betty” after their daughters.
