Ryan Reynolds biography, wife and daughters, net worth, age and height, family 2025

Ryan Reynolds Biography

Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian actor who shot to fame starring in comedies like Buying the Cow and National Lampoon's Van Wilder. He's also known for his roles in superhero films Green Lantern and Deadpool. Net worth: $150 million.

Early life: Childhood and Family

Ryan Reynolds was born in Vancouver to an ordinary Canadian family. He was the fourth child in the family, and after his birth, his father Jim Chester Reynolds left the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to go into wholesale business. His mother Tammy worked as a supermarket cashier.

Ryan's artistic nature showed itself as early as third grade when he landed a small part in a school play. At thirteen, he asked his parents to take him to Florida for casting in Nickelodeon's new teen soap opera Fifteen.

The young actor got the role of Billy Simpson, one of the main characters in the everyday life of the Hillside school. The series aired on American cable television for just two years. Ryan won the Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Cable Series award and gained valuable on-set experience during his time in sunny Florida.

Ryan Reynolds' first role (Fifteen teen drama)

After the project ended, Ryan returned to his hometown of Vancouver. While still in high school, he appeared in several projects: The Odyssey series and the feature film Ordinary Magic, where 17-year-old Ryan played an Indian boy named Ganesh who moved to Canada after his father's death. In 1993, the young actor was cast as a chubby teenager in an X-Files episode alongside David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.

Ryan Reynolds' character dying in The X-Files series

In 1994, Ryan Reynolds graduated from high school and enrolled at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, even though he didn't really want to be a student—he saw himself on Hollywood film sets alongside world-famous stars. So he soon dropped out and headed toward his dream. "I was going through the course list and realized there was absolutely nothing that interested me. So one Wednesday morning I packed my stuff, and later that day I was on my way to Los Angeles," Ryan recalled.

Ryan Reynolds dreamt of becoming an actor back in his youth

The actor said his first few weeks in Los Angeles were absolutely awful. The day after he arrived, his jeep was stolen and Ryan had to figure out how to get around using LA's complex public transportation system. A series of failures knocked down Ryan's confidence: "Everybody kept saying I wouldn't become another Tom Hanks."

By pure chance, Ryan met Chris Martin, another aspiring actor from Canada. Their job hunt together paid off for Reynolds – he landed a role in My Name Is Kate. Afterward, he had a number of supporting roles in The Marshal, Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, The Outer Limits, and In Cold Blood.

Ryan Reynolds in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story

The Sabrina the Teenage Witch series opened up new career opportunities for Reynolds. He played Seth, a tall, athletic, and handsome guy who was one of the most popular students at school and caught the eye of the main female character. During filming, Reynolds proved himself as a talented comedian with a sharp sense of humor. Soon after, he was offered comedic roles in several projects: Tourist Trap, an episode of Scrubs where he worked alongside Zach Braff and John McGinley, and finally Buying the Cow, where Ryan appeared nude in one scene.

Naked Ryan Reynolds in Buying the Cow movie

Career Start

Walt Becker, the director of Buying the Cow, was impressed by Reynolds' charismatic personality and vivid facial expressions, casting him in the lead role for his new project, National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Reynolds' chemistry with Tara Reid and Kal Penn was a hit – audiences everywhere fell in love with the carefree college lifestyle, and the film earned around $40 million at the box office.

Ryan Reynolds is the real party liaison!

Over the next three years, Reynolds dove headfirst into comedy: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle with Neil Patrick Harris, John Cho and his old friend Kal Penn, The In-Laws with Michael Douglas, and School of Life, where he played the eccentric Mr. D.

Ryan Reynolds as an OR nurse in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

In 2003, director David Goyer saw Reynolds' potential for Blade: Trinity alongside Wesley Snipes, casting him as Hannibal King, leader of a vampire-hunting crew. For the role, Reynolds packed on about 22 pounds of muscle mass, and the transformation was incredible – his ripped physique left audiences stunned.

Reynolds began branching out into different genres, taking on increasingly complex characters in more unpredictable storylines. In 2005, he landed the lead in the hit thriller The Amityville Horror; 2006 saw him as a former gangster's protégé in the crime thriller Smokin' Aces; and in 2007, he played Frank Allen in Chaos Theory, a devoted family man facing an impossible choice.

Snapshot with Ryan Reynolds in Smokin' Aces

In 2011, Reynolds starred in the comic book adaptation Green Lantern alongside Blake Lively. Reynolds played a fearless test pilot who suddenly gains otherworldly powers.

Green Lantern. Reynolds hardly managed to cope with his role of a superhero

In 2014, The Voices had its premiere. What seemed like another Ryan Reynolds comedy turned out to be a dark psychological thriller. Critics often compared Reynolds' character Jerry – a disturbed man who converses with his pets – to Christian Bale's iconic role in American Psycho.

Reynolds played a humble janitor Jerry in The Voices

Criminal, a sci-fi action thriller, became another major project for the actor. The movie was released in April 2016, and besides Ryan Reynolds, it starred a number of prominent Hollywood actors – Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kevin Costner.

In Criminal Ryan Reynolds demonstrated his combat skills

At the same time, Reynolds starred in Paper Man, a comedy-drama. The film isn't really about a superhero's daily life – Reynolds played an imaginary friend of writer Richard Dunn, appearing in scenes wearing an over-the-top superman suit.

Deadpool

In 2009, Gavin Hood directed X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie explores the backstory of one of the main characters from the mutant superhero saga. Predictably, the remarkable Hugh Jackman reprised his role as Wolverine, while Ryan Reynolds made his first appearance as cold-blooded mercenary Wade Wilson, who would later become Deadpool.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the scene with Deadpool

In 2014, Reynolds returned to his favorite superhero theme and began filming Deadpool. Even though Ryan wasn't new to action movies and had some experience with graphic novel adaptations, this time it combined both elements, making it completely different from any of his previous acting experiences.

Deadpool is nothing like the 'traditional' superheroes who've grown stale with audiences – those who save humanity at the cost of their own interests. Deadpool is different: he's an unprincipled mercenary who puts profit above any noble motives. Moreover, Deadpool was highly interactive and broke all the Marvel plot patterns, giving Reynolds completely new impressions and experiences during filming.

Deadpool in real life

Reynolds has repeatedly said that Deadpool chose him for the comic book's screen adaptation. There are just too many coincidences: both their names have alliteration (Ryan Rodney Reynolds and Wade Winston Wilson), they have the same height and eye color, and Ryan played his first role in 1991 – the same year the first Deadpool comic was published.

Reynolds spent hours in the makeup chair during Deadpool shooting

Thanks to Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool turned out very similar to his comic book prototype: edgy, morally bankrupt, foul-mouthed, and capable of instantly charming viewers.

Top 10 Ryan Reynolds Performances

After Deadpool's massive success, Ryan signed on for the sequel, which was released on May 10th.

Further Career

In 2019, the actor voiced Pikachu, the main character of the first live-action Pokémon movie adaptation, 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu'.

Ryan Reynolds about Detective Pikachu

He also starred in the action movie '6 Underground' and played the lead in the sci-fi comedy 'Free Guy' (originally scheduled for release in December 2020).

Ryan Reynolds' personal life

Reynolds has always tried to keep his personal life away from the press, so the public only knows about the actor's three major relationships.

In 2003, Reynolds dated Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. They met at a party hosted by Drew Barrymore. Ryan struck up a conversation about his hometown Vancouver and travel, and they discovered they had a lot in common. In 2005, Ryan proposed to Alanis. Over the next three years, the actor made wedding plans, but his bride-to-be left him because she wasn't ready for such a serious commitment.

Reynolds dated Canadian singer Alanis Morissette

In summer 2007, Ryan met Scarlett Johansson. From the moment they met, there was instant chemistry between them. They tried to keep their passionate romance away from the press. However, after tabloids published paparazzi shots of the couple holding hands, Ryan and Scarlett officially confirmed their relationship. In May 2008, Reynolds proposed to Johansson over breakfast one morning, presenting her with a gold diamond ring.

Shortly after, they tied the knot in a wedding ceremony. Their first year of marriage was picture-perfect: the couple bought a house in Melrose, spent all their free time together, and traveled around Europe. However, their relationship soon fell apart due to conflicting work schedules and the demanding careers of both actors. Neither wanted to sacrifice their career, and in 2011, Scarlett left her husband for Sean Penn.

The family idyll of Reynolds and Johansson was destroyed by Sean Penn

Reynolds met his third wife on the set of Green Lantern in 2010. In the movie, Ryan and Blake Lively's characters have an affair, but in real life everything was different – Blake was dating Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ryan was trying to be an exemplary husband. Shortly after the superhero blockbuster premiered, everything changed. Photos of the new couple surfaced in the press, but they denied having any relationship beyond friendship. On September 9, 2012, the couple secretly tied the knot. In December 2014, the Reynolds welcomed their daughter James.

Ryan Reynolds, funny moments

In late September 2016, the couple welcomed their second baby. The parents kept the baby's gender under wraps for a while, but then Ryan accidentally spilled the beans on Twitter: "The mobile above my daughter's crib is just a whole bunch of Nuva Rings. So she remembers how lucky she is." Naturally, millions of Reynolds' fans started congratulating him on his second daughter.

Ryan Reynolds with his wife Blake Lively

In summer 2019, Ryan and Blake became parents for the third time – another girl. The couple kept her name under wraps.

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and their third daughter

Later, Taylor Swift spilled the baby's name. In 2020 she released a new album Folklore included a song Betty. The song mentioned the names James and Inez. Listeners figured the track titled "Betty" wasn't named randomly. Soon after, Ryan confirmed his third daughter's name – she's indeed called Betty.

Ryan Reynolds Now

In 2021, the comedy with philosophical undertones "Free Guy" hit theaters. Reynolds played a character from the popular online game Free City who doesn't realize he's living in a simulation. Like hundreds of other NPCs, he lived according to the game creators' plan, until he suddenly developed free will.

In November 2021, the comedy thriller "Red Notice" with Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson was released. The movie was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more than 300 crew members were forced to live apart from their families. Reynolds made 300 videos with supportive messages for their relatives, friends, and even pets. He also gave each crew member a bottle of his "Aviation" gin.

Ryan Reynolds has a contract to at least once more movie about Deadpool (probably, it will be released in 2023) and «X-force» movie, a sequel of «X-men» with new characters.

Ryan Reynolds: latest news and articles

Ryan Reynolds creates animated film about dung beetle with thestrangest title in cinema history

16 Jun 2025

The sitcom "Scrubs" will get a continuation

22 May 2025

Seven major roles that Henry Cavill missed out on

19 May 2025

William Anderson

I don`t really like fantastic movies and Marvel but Ryan Reynold played very well in `Deadpool`.

2021-05-09 16:08:53
Beverly Edwards

Ryan Reynolds is a successful actor, good father and happy husband, `Deadpool` and `6 Underground` it`s not the end. We are waiting for more.

2021-04-13 23:03:30
Matthew Adrian Hughes

Before I thought that Ryan Reynolds was the best in `National Lampoon`s Van Wilder` but then I watched `Deadpool` and I understood I was wrong before.

2021-03-31 14:27:32
Danielle Williams

I started to like Ryan Reynolds after `Deadpool`. He gave a lot to the movie with helping to make it and also he played wonderful.

2021-03-30 17:48:08
Thomas Christopher Hall

For me Ryan Reynolds and Deadpool it`s the same. Great actor`s work in spite of the main actor is a foul-mouthed, Ryan played so well that you starting to watch him on the screen without pause.

2021-02-17 16:23:55

Photos: Ryan Reynolds