Ryan Rodney Reynolds* Born: Ryan Rodney Reynolds on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
* Job Titles: Actor
Family
* Father: Jim Reynolds. Vancouver food wholesaler and former semi-professional boxer
* Mother: Tammy Reynolds.
Mini Biography
Hailed by his northern countrymen as “The Canadian Ham,” actor Ryan Reynolds was even better known as the supreme idol to a certain mostly intoxicated, segment of the population, following his starring role in “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder” (2002). Creative ambition had set in at a young age when, as a kid, Reynolds had formed an improv comedy group in Vancouver called Yellow Snow.
Reynolds later recalled it as a “terrible, terrible soap opera.” Unfortunately, after the series ended, Reynolds returned to Vancouver where he struggled to find the true breakout role he dreamed of. Even appearances as the teenage son of such seasoned actors as Donna Mills in “My Name Is Kate” (CBS, 1994); Glenn Close in “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story” (NBC, 1995); and Sam Neill in CBS’s remake of “In Cold Blood” (1996) left Reynolds yearning for more substantial roles. After only a few months, Reynolds dropped out to continue his acting career. Not long after, he ran into fellow Vancouver actor and native Chris Martin, who found Reynolds rather despondent and told him to pack everything because they were headed to Los Angeles. After auditioning for a show called “The Best Years,” Reynolds inadvertently stumbled into a fictional Boston pizza parlor that changed his life forever. Regardless of the sitcom’s fate, the part of Berg did lead to film roles for Reynolds. Later that year, Reynolds turned a career corner by portraying the hard-partying, good-looking, slacker-turned-campus king in “Van Wilder.” Producer Andrew Panay described Reynolds as an “amazing amalgam of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Jim Carrey.” After the release of “Van Wilder,” Reynolds met someone who would ultimately help raise his profile –singer-songwriter and fellow Canadian, Alanis Morissette. As Reynolds’s love life took off, so too did his post-“Van Wilder” resume. In the limp slapstick comedy, Reynolds played the son of a Douglas’ CIA agent character who is about to be married. After a small role as a male nurse in the strange comedy “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” (2004), Reynolds transformed himself – literally – to play the vampire-hunting, wisecracking sidekick Hannibal King in “Blade: Trinity” (2004), co-starring Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel. In 2004, after two years of dating, Reynolds and Morissette were engaged. Producers admitted Reynolds was not the most obvious choice to star as the possessed George Lutz in the MGM remake of the 1979 horror film classic. To give the impression of such an imposing character, Reynolds gained 10 more pounds for the role and emotionally, was put through the wringer in his layered performance. Continuing his comic streak, Reynolds portrayed a geeky high school student who transforms into a babe magnet in the romantic comedy “Just Friends” (2005), co-starring Amy Smart and Anna Faris. Reynolds next blew onto the scene in “Smokin’ Aces” (2006) with an all-star cast that included Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven, Jason Bateman and Ray Liotta. Thankfully, Reynolds emerged from the film unscathed.
Significant Others
* Companion: Alanis Morissette. Began dating by e-mail in 2002; became engaged in June 2004; split briefly in 2006; split again in February 2007
* Wife: Scarlett Johansson. Began dating in Summer 2007; married Sept. 27, 2008, at a remote wilderness resort outside Vancouver, just four months after announcing their engagement
Education
* Kitsilano Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1994
Milestones
* 1991 TV-debut in the Nickelodeon series Fifteen
* 1993 Had regular role as Macro, the dictator of a children s fantasy world, in the Canadian series The Odyssey
* 1993 Film acting debut Ordinary Magic
* 1994 US TV-movie debut My Name Is Kate (ABC)
* 1996 Played a popular high school student in the Showtime TV-movie Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
* 1998 Starred in the ABC sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (retitled Two Guys and a Girl in its third season)
* 1998 Co-starred as Kate Capshaw s teenaged son in The Alarmist
* 1999 Had featured role in Dick starring Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst
* 2001 Played a bitter divorced man in Finder s Fee
* 2002 Cast in the starring role of National Lampoon s Van Wilder opposite Tara Reid
* 2002 Co-starred in the independent comedy Buying the Cow
* 2003 Cast in the remake of The In-Laws
* 2004 Played Hannibal King, one of the Nightstalkers in Blade: Trinity opposite Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel
* 2005 Co-starred in The Amityville Horror a remake of the 1979 horror film
* 2005 Starred in the comedy Just Friends helmed by Roger Kumble
* 2007 Co-starred in the action-comedy Smokin Aces directed by Joe Carnahan
* 2007 Portrayed three different characters in John August s directing debut, The Nines
* 2008 Cast as the soon-to-be-divorced father of Abigail Breslin in Definitely, Maybe
* 2008 Starred in Chaos Theory with Stuart Townsend and Emily Mortimer
* 2009 Played a maintenance man with an eye for young girls in Greg Mottola s Adventureland
* 2009 Played the mercenary Deadpool in the Marvel Comics film X-Men Origins: Wolverine
