To successfully acquire a football club, one needs a significant amount of funds. Or, as Rob McElhenney put it, “movie-star money.” Ryan Reynolds had that movie star money.
An email from McElhenney outlining the plans to purchase the third oldest football club in the world was all it took to convince the Canadian. In November 2020, RR McReynolds LLC bought Wrexham AFC for £2m.
Since then, Reynolds has etched his way into the hearts of football supporters and the public alike. He has immersed himself in Welsh and football culture, putting all the doubters’ minds to rest; the Hollywood star has earned the trust of his team and Wrexham’s supporters.
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His transition from a novice to a well-informed football fan has been on display for the world to see. From having to understand how red cards work to the painfully complicated offside rule, viewers have experienced Reynolds’ development to understand the game over time. Yet, he has continued to maintain his charismatic and charming presence throughout, making him a darling for fans and the media.
Reynolds and McElhenney received the Diolch Y Ddraig award at a special ‘Wales and the World’ concert in New York last year. Reynolds spoke Welsh during their speech. “Cymru am byth,” he said. Both have publicly spoken Welsh on national and American television. Undoubtedly, giving the language an enormous platform for recognition.
So, who is the Canadian, Welsh-learning, Hollywood co-owner of Wrexham AFC?
Early life
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on October 23, 1976. His father, James Chester Reynolds was a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. His mother, Tamara Lee, worked in retail. Reynolds is the youngest of four sons and was raised in an Irish Catholic household. Two of his older siblings followed in his father’s footsteps in law enforcement; however, at the age of 13, Reynolds was bitten by the acting bug.
He graduated from Kitsilano Secondary School in 1994. During this time, he had already appeared in several television series including the Canadian fantasy series The Odyssey and Nickelodeon’s teen soap opera Hillside.
Breakthrough to fame
Between 1991-2003 Reynolds had a number of small roles in television series including a recurring role in the humorously titled sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. He also started his own improv group, Yellow Snow. Reynolds’ breakout debut came in the National Lampoon film Van Wilder (2002), putting him on the map as a Canadian heartthrob with impeccable comedic timing.
Following his breakout role, Reynolds starred in a number of genre-hopping roles from rom-coms to action to more serious drama. He starred in the Canadian box-office disappointment Foolproof (2003) and alongside Wesley Snipes in the action movie Blade: Trinity (2004); the worst-reviewed film in the trilogy. A number of disappointments followed the Canadian actor. However, he would soon elevate to Hollywood stardom.
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Elevation to global icon
His status as a Hollywood movie star was firmly established after co-starring in several romantic comedy hits such as Definitely, Maybe (2008) alongside Rachel Weisz and The Proposal (2009) opposite Sandra Bullock. His ability to hold an audience’s attention and co-star with some of the biggest names in the business skyrocketed Reynolds’ fame, eventually landing him leading roles in big-budget projects.
Although he achieved great success during this period it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Canadian actor. In 2009 Reynolds took on the role of the DC superhero Green Lantern. The movie was a disaster and became one of the biggest box-office bombs in cinema history.
Undoubtedly, Deadpool (2016) was the blockbuster hit that cemented Reynolds’ place in Hollywood memory forever. Yet, it wasn’t his first appearance in the Marvel franchise. Reynolds starred alongside Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) as Wade Wilson (an earlier adaptation of Deadpool). Again, the film didn’t achieve the notoriety he would have wished for. Origins received heavy criticism and Jackman has since expressed his unhappiness with the final product.
Deadpool (2016) drastically altered his poor luck within the superhero genre. Financially, Deadpool grossed an eye-watering $782.6m on a budget of $58m, making it one of the highest-earning R-rated films of all time. Critically, the film received immeasurable success. The potty-mouthed anti-hero is unlike every other superhero film and Reynolds was the flagbearer.
The subsequent sequel Deadpool 2 (2018) achieved similar notoriety and Reynolds has since continued to make big-budget blockbuster smashes. Most recently, the actor displayed his love and respect for Wales by ensuring his Netflix-backed action-comedy Red Notice (2021), alongside Dwayne Johnson, had Welsh subtitles available for viewers; this was the first time Welsh had been available on the platform and has since paved the way for further Welsh-language projects on the streaming service.
Famous partners
Alongside his blockbuster success, Reynolds has dated some of the most famous women in the world.
Between 2004-07 the actor was engaged to fellow Canadian singer-songwriter, Alanis Morissette. The pair reportedly met at Drew Barrymore’s birthday party in 2002; two years later the couple were engaged. The seven-time Grammy-winning star told People that Reynolds was “like a soul brother to me.”
It’s unclear why the pair broke up, but it is understood they remain close friends to this day. The Canadian musician ultimately blamed the couple’s fame for their demise. Morissette channelled her post-breakup grief into song. Her album Flavours of Entanglement (2008) addresses the fallout with her track “Torch”.
Shortly after Reynolds’ break-up with Morissette the Canadian started dating actress Scarlett Johansson. The couple attended red carpets and were occasionally photographed together, but kept their relationship private. In May 2008, Reynolds and Johansson were engaged.
In September of that year, 23-year-old Johansson and 31-year-old Reynolds married in a private ceremony in Vancouver. On getting married young Johansson told Glamour, “I never really thought about it – it just kind of happened.”
But the fact that both were actors took its toll on the relationship. Johansson admitted to Time Out that the two never had time for dates. “We work and then go home – I just stare at the wall for a few hours before I got to sleep,” she said.
By 2010 the couple announced their separation. At the time, Reynolds was filming The Green Lantern and Johansson was living in New York while she starred in A View From the Bridge on Broadway. Both later admitted the reason the relationship didn’t work out was that they didn’t spend enough time together.
Today, the star of Deadpool is married to Blake Lively. They are currently one of Hollywood’s most beloved power couples. Lively and Reynolds (who married in 2012) now have three daughters together, as well as a newborn son.
The Gossip Girl star worked alongside Reynolds for Green Lantern. They later started dating and eventually married in a private ceremony in South Carolina; it’s reported that Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, performed at their wedding.
After Wrexham gained promotion into the Football League Reynolds video-called Lively as he and the Wrexham faithful invaded the pitch; the Canadian was visibly emotional after the win while speaking to his wife and children.
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