Ryan Reynolds Biography

Ryan Reynolds is the genial, smart-alecky star of TV and films who got his first big break as National Lampoon’s Van Wilder (2002) and parlayed it into a career as both romantic star and action hero. Now he is known as the star and titular character of Marvel’s Deadpool movies.

Ryan Reynolds’ first exposure beyond his native Canada was in the cable TV teen drama Fifteen (1990-93, the U.S. title of what was known in Canada as Hillside), and he showed an early flair for romantic comedy in the TV series Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998-2001).

His role as ever-popular campus man Van Wilder was pure comedy, but he soon evolved into a leading man of genre thrillers and romantic comedies.

Reynolds was tough and cut for Blade: Trinity (2004, starring Wesley Snipes), haunted by The Amityville Ghosts in The Amityville Horror remake (2005), lecherous and carefree in Waiting… (2005), comically obsessive in Chaos Theory (2007), vulnerable and fatherly in Definitely, Maybe (2008), and then superhero-ish as the title star of the comic-book megamovies Green Lantern (2011) and the box office smash Deadpool (2016).

Over the years his good looks and charm earned him an ardent female following; People magazine called him the “Sexiest Dad Alive” in 2016.

Since then Reynolds has been in the headlines nonstop, thanks to his social media witticisms, his new film and television projects, the personal details of his marriage with actress Blake Lively, and his many financial investments (sports teams, high tech, distilled spirits and game shows).

His other films include The In-Laws (2003, starring Michael Douglas); Smokin’ Aces (2006, with Andy Garcia); X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, starring Hugh Jackman; the romantic comedy The Proposal (2009, with romcom queen Sandra Bullock); Safe House (2012, with Denzel Washington); the gambling flick Mississippi Grind (2015); the thrillers 6 Underground (2019), Free Guy (2021), The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife (2021) and The Adam Project (2022); and the Marvel sequel Deadpool & Wolverine (2024, co-starring Hugh Jackman).