Ryan Reynolds Recalls His 'complicated' Relationship With His Dad

  • 16 August 2024

Ryan Reynolds had a "complicated" relationship with his dad.

The 47-year-old actor lost his dad, James Reynolds, aged 74, in 2015 - but Ryan feels like his own experience of fatherhood has helped to give him some "closure".

The Hollywood star - who has James, nine, Inez, seven, Betty, four, and Olin, whose birth was announced in February 2023, with actress Blake Lively - told PEOPLE: "I think most men and boys have a slightly complicated relationship with their father. But I also think that the healing for me or the closure around my dad actually really comes more through my relationship with my own kids."

Ryan's dad lived with Parkinson's disease for nearly 20 years, but the actor remembers his dad as a man of "incredible integrity".

The movie star - who has been married to Blake since 2012 - added: "He did not lie. He had this compulsion and moral and ethical compass that was I think very impressive."

Despite this, Ryan also acknowledged some of his dad's bad traits.

The 'Deadpool and Wolverine' star - who is now one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood - said: "[It] always pushed him to do the right thing at the right time, even though he made a massive amount of mistakes, was not a great communicator, blew it, all kinds of stuff.

"But I blow it all the time and we all do. It's funny that our parents are meant to have this kind of infallibility. So I do feel like part of that process and journey for me is with my own kids ... I get to fill in those little gaps that maybe hurt me with respect to my own father."