Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Ryan Reynolds on Balancing Success and Fatherhood

Episode Date: April 19, 2026

Actor, producer and businessman Ryan Reynolds joins Willie Geist for a special Sunday Sitdown Live conversation at City Winery New York. They discussed Reynolds’s wide-ranging career in front of the camera including the future of the billion-dollar “Deadpool” Franchise, the incredible success of Wrexham AFC, since he and fellow actor Rob McElheney bought it in 2020, his many other business ventures including Aviation Gin and his marketing company Maximum Effort, and how he balances family life and fatherhood through it all. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist with a special edition of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I say special because this is the latest in our series of Sunday Sit Down live conversations where we bring you into the room, a live audience of our listeners and our viewers who can buy tickets and come sit with us inside City Winery, New York, and City Winery, Nashville in the case of Luke Combs a couple of months ago, and be a part of the conversation for a Sunday sitdown. We love doing it. We love meeting you, seeing you, hearing how far you've traveled to be with us on these nights. And just a few nights ago, I got together with Ryan Reynolds, the one and only Ryan Reynolds. He of Deadpool fame.

But let's be honest at this point so much more. Yes, Deadpool and Wolverine a couple of years ago. The single highest grossing R-rated movie in the history of Hollywood made $1.3 billion. By the way, the two previous Deadpool movies also are in the top five of the highest-grossing R-rated movie. movies of all time. So he can do that. We know he's good at making movies, but also he's become this kind of fascinating business magnate who's got a football club, perhaps you've heard of it, called Rexum. He'll tell the story of that, how it started from the bottom and it's now climbed to the doorstep of the Premier League, which is as good as you can do in soccer. How he got involved with that, how they've created this docu series. It's won a bunch of Emmys around it, a new season of that coming up

called Welcome to Rexum on FX. Also, the guy has a mobile phone company. He just bought a sailing team with Hugh Jackman, his good buddy, and he's got this company maximum effort that does all kinds of marketing and branding and advertising. So he's just one of these guys who's sort of voracious and just wants to try new challenges. And I kind of talk to him about what the through line is on all of these things. And what he tries, how he picks and chooses what he gets associated with. Oh, also has a gin company, aviation gin. By the way, the signature drink of the night that night at City Winery, New York was called a 10 and tonic. Ten, because it's our 10th anniversary of Sunday today, the program on NBC. And so we were celebrating that that night. And then we got mixed in his

aviation gin. So a little tin and tonic. You get it. Also, you know, Ryan and I have known each other for over a decade in a way that we never would have hoped to have had to know each other, which is through Parkinson's disease, but it has formed a bond between us. Both of our dads, his late father, Jim, who passed away in 2015, lived with Parkinson's for 20 years. My dad, who's 81 years old or about to be it, has had Parkinson's for more than 35 years. So we've always kind of bonded over that in our conversations privately and even publicly. And in this case, again, we talk about that because he's a spokesperson for Acadia Pharmaceuticals and has been raising awareness about some of these lesser-known symptoms of Parkinson's delusions and hallucinations, what might be early

warning signs and let people get out ahead of it. So it's quite a mix. There's so much to talk about when you sit down with Ryan Reynolds. That's always the challenge. Where do you begin? Movies, business, Parkinson's, all of it. So hopefully you'll enjoy the conversation again at City Winery, New York, big live audience who's been plied with Ten and Tonics, just aviation gin or whatever they wanted. Ryan is so extraordinarily funny. My mother, Jody, is in the crowd to hear him address her several times. My son is there, too.

Just a room packed full of friends and family. And such a fun night from one of the most thoughtful, charming, and my gosh, stand-up comedian-level, lightning, quick, funny, Ryan Reynolds. So sit back, relax, and enjoy Ryan Reynolds live right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. What's going on guys? Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thanks for being here. How are we feeling? Did we have enough ten in tonics

to get the night going a little bit? I was kind of arguing for ten in juice, but ten in tonic one, that's okay. All that matters is there's aviation gin in your drinks tonight, and that's important because Ryan Reynolds is here. We're so excited. We've done five of these now.

This is our fifth, these Sunday Sit Down Lives. We started just about a year and a half ago with Nate Bargettze on this very state, Some of you were here. Eina Garten was here for one of them. Jim Gaff again. Then we went down to Nashville

and saw Luke Combs for one. And now we've got Ryan Reynolds. So we're, yeah. And I continue to be so humbled when I get a chance to talk to some of you before about the effort you put in to being here. I swear when we started this, I was certain that when we had a crowd,

it would be some of my friends from New Jersey and some of my neighbors from the upper. Upper West Side. And on that first event with Nate, when we were going through the line, people would say, I came from San Diego, or I came from Chicago,

or Atlanta, Fort Worth. I know there's a lot of Fort Worth in the room tonight. Front row, very nice. Austin, yeah. There we go. All over the place. And I actual,

because I hadn't processed what was happening yet, I would say to them, oh, that's great. Are you in town for work? And then I'd say, are you here to see Hamilton? And they'd say,

no, moron, we're here to see you, and Nate Bargetse. So thank you. I know what kind of effort it is to be here and the energy and the cost and everything. So I'm so grateful

that you would come. And this really is the beginning of the commemoration of our 10th anniversary of Sunday today. So you're in the room for that. We like to do occasions in here.

One of the last times I was in this room, and this is true, was a joint 50th birthday party for me and my wife who was here tonight. And let's just say we did.

didn't get the security deposit back. So I'm very honored that they would allow us back in this room. I'll leave it at that. Ryan Reynolds is one of my favorite people in the world, one of my favorite people to talk to. He's so smart. He's so funny, as all of you know. He's so generous.

And we actually first got to know each other about a dozen years ago because his father, his late father, Jim, had Parkinson's disease, and my dad has Parkinson's 2. and the two of us were both involved in the Michael J. Fox Foundation and formed a real bond over that. And so I'm so moved that some of the people in this room and some that I met tonight who have Parkinson's disease or have a family member with Parkinson's disease have come here tonight to hear Ryan talk about it, to hear some of my experience, and to hear hopefully some encouragement for all the exciting things that are happening. And we'll hear about that from one of our sponsors tonight, Acadia Pharmaceutical. So thank you all for being here. Thank you.

Also like to point some of the other funny scenes that I've seen tonight. Shout out to all the people who didn't like their first picture and got at the end of the line and came all the way through again. Raise your hand if you took two pictures. Good for you. Yep, there they are. And I'm not going to mention any names. I really am not going to. But a couple of old flames didn't know that they were here separately tonight and met each other back.

in the room. It's not going anywhere, but just know that there's some tension in the room tonight. That's it. That's the end of my story. So you know Ryan Reynolds, he's a man who needs no introduction. You know that his latest Deadpool movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, was the single highest-grossing R-rated movie in the history of movies that made $1.3 billion. That movie was all him all the way. The studio didn't want it. He worked on it for like 20 years to get it made and finally got it made, and the rest is history. You know about all the other things he does, not just the Michael J. Fox Foundation, but he's become this business magnate with a football club in Wrexham that has moved up the ladder, this incredible underdog story. You know about

the gin, you know about Mint Mobile, the guy just does a little of everything. He's incredible. And I will say, and I won't say it out here because we'll embarrass him too much, but he's an incredibly generous guy who always puts his family and his wife and his kids first. And I try to be very sparing with people I know, but I will share this that a few years ago, a family we knew had a child who was in a lot of pain and was going through a terrible medical situation and loved Deadpool. And I said, this is one time I text Ryan. I said, hey, if there's, you know, if there's a picture or a t-shirt or anything. And within five minutes, he had sent back like a highly produced video of him with the

Deadpool suit on a model kind of thing and a speech to this child and that's just, that's who he is. It's the kind of guy he is. He's a beautiful person, a talented person. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Ryan Reynolds. It's

still in there somewhere. Thank God I do not like logos. Hold it. Hold for camera. Oh, God. Oh, you got me again. Got you again. A little Bye-bye-bye, you guys know what we're talking about. They're a little Deadpool, right? You know that thing?

My son, that's all he wants is, guy, let's watch Deadpool Wolverine. Oh, does he really? Bye-bye-bye-bye. Yeah, all he loves. Now how old to see? He's three. Yeah.

Dad of the year right here. Oh, you want to watch the rated-d-ar movie, do you? A little Gipper, get up here, let's do it. I love that. Yeah. Terrible. Yeah, corrupt him early. That's a hard play.

That's fine. I was raised on those kinds of movies. 100%. Yeah. So like I said, I first met you. I was looking back today, I think it was like 12 years ago on Michael J. Fox Foundation stuff. I remember one of the events or something like that. I was so embarrassed because I remember you said my dad has Parkinson's too. And I did the dumbest, I went, they made a sequel. But why would they make a sequel? And I, yeah, and I regret it instantly. I regret it now. And you brought it back. Yeah. Here it is again. I was like, why? That's not good. You don't need to say that. But I remember, like, we've talked off-camera in ways that have been very meaningful to me about our dads, for sure. And you always have stepped out, whether it's with Michael J. Fox Foundation or Acadia here with this Morta Parkinson's campaign. Why has this cause, obviously your relationship with your father, but why have you put yourself out there and use your platform in this way on Parkinson's?

Well, you know, I think, you know, there's so many moments. I have in my life now where I wish my dad could see, you know? And I don't get those anymore. You know, I think he, my name was a tough guy. We didn't always see eye to eye. My brother's here in the audience somewhere. He knows. So there he is right there. Yeah. And, and, you know, he was a tough fella. But, you know, as you get older and you look back and things, you ask yourself, was that really true? Did all this happen exactly how I think it happened? Or did he have his own story and his own sort of, you know, version of things? And I really, you know, there's so much I'm learning about my dad still.

He's been gone a decade, over a decade now. And my relationship with him is, and I know it sounds a little esoteric or a little odd, but it's grown, you know, in a weird way. It's kind of grown since he's been gone. And I think I attribute that to just getting older and growing more of my own experiences and seeing those in my wake and kind of looking back and going, wow, life is really hard. And it's complicated for everybody. I don't care what your status or position is in life.

Everybody's carrying their own bag of rocks around. My dad certainly had his. And I look back and I think, God, he really was going through a lot and must have felt very alone. Part of this, you know, Morta Parkinson's campaign is about hallucinations and delusions. And those are two things that my father very much experienced. And I didn't even know it was an aspect of Parkinson's. I didn't know none of us did. There was nothing that could treat it at the time.

And there was not even, nobody talked about it. People still don't talk about it because 50% of people with Parkinson's have this. And, you know, it really unraveled his life. And I can't think of anything more isolating or lonesome than no longer being a reliable narrator in your own life, you know, and not necessarily being trusted in that way. And not really being able to attribute it to anything other than, oh, he's just kind of losing it. Or, you know, they would say things like that. And it's like, well, is he? I don't know.

There's lucid moments. And then there's these other moments. So, yeah, it's kind of been very complicated, more so than I would have guessed 10 years on. Yeah. I mean, I didn't, the hallucination stuff that you're talking about, the delusions, I didn't appreciate it until we started talking about like a year and a half ago. Yeah. And since you started this campaign, the research is that like the number of families who see this and now can recognize it has doubled. They go, oh, right, I see that.

Yeah. I get stopped in the street a lot by people who just want to talk about this, you know, Parkinson's and things that they're going through with their own family. And, you know, I'm happy to talk about it. It's like one of the, especially when I'm with my kids, it's very hard to get me to stop because you're with your kids. You want to sort of protect that time. But if someone asks me about that, I will stop and talk. And if someone asks me about rexom, I will stop and talk. As soon as they hear the word rexom, my kids go, oh.

Oh, no. He's going to explain the offside rule. Terrible. More on rexum in a moment, because that's absolutely incredible. But you have, when I look at that statistic, you've moved the needle on it. I mean, to be able to take your... celebrity and platform and yeah i has to feel gratifying yeah i'm you know i that's a that's an easy trade like that's a

joke come on you know that's an easy thing to throw out there and raise awareness for i mean you know i i put my own colonoscopy online you know the video footage iMacs yeah it was a lot in iMacs Christopher nolan was there inside sorry you'll cut you can cut that out I'll go back to the beginning. There it is. Yeah, that's a good end point for us. There's the edit.

Wow. We've talked a lot, too, about Michael J. Fox kind of being a North Star for both of us. Like, when you hear your dad has Parkinson's, you're like, okay, what do I do? Oh, right, Michael J. Fox. Right. And we both ran the marathon. Yep.

It was very, I looked today. This is why this is a good man right here. Most people who run the marathon, like, it's especially men. like, what was your time? And I never like to answer that because I'm always like, you really just want me to ask you what your time was. So let's just skip to your time, you know. And I've had more than a few people go,

come up to tell me about their marathon time because they know it was a minute faster than mine. And I'm always like, yes, you're the guy who did it. I remember you did it, you had bronchitis and you had a torn ligament. And they go, no, I didn't. I go, right, that was me. Mother. Yeah.

So that leads to me to the next question is, what was your time? What are you bench, Willie? No, this is... As little as I can, to be honest. Well, this is how brave I am bringing it up. You got me. I looked it up today.

Really? Got me by eight minutes. Eight minutes. And it hurts. You still had a good time. That hurts. That hurts. So you hit four. Sub four.

That gets you into Boston, man. That doesn't mean. You just all you have to say is sub four. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Me and this spry, two-and-a-half-hour runner, we were neck and neck right up for the first hundred feet,

and then the rest was... Came out a little hot, did we? Oh, man. A little hot. Just fade. I was an experience. I knew enough about it. It was only a run it once, but I think it might be the last time I ran.

But I remember seeing a guy dressed in a full Batman suit running past me. And I thought, we'll see him again. We did. We did. But you know who I remember. I'll never forget seeing Michael, though. in that run. I'm sure you saw him too. Same. Yeah.

Jumps out on the street. You know, normally that would be terrifying. But it's like jumps out of the street. And you're like, oh, that's Michael J. Fox. And I have wind beneath my wings right now. Totally. He just, he's like, he just creates a turbo mechanism in your body. And you just fly.

That's amazing. You said that because that's when you're running up Fifth Avenue. And I remember having a thought, I don't think this is going to happen. It was a good try. Yes. And I don't think I'm going to finish. I know. I know.

I'm going to die like 100 yards from this. And who knew Fifth Avenue? was uphill in a cab. It doesn't feel like it. We know Fifth Avenue is uphill. Yeah. And we know that Queensborough Bridge is the 10th previously undiscovered

10th circle of hell. Just like, it is. Yeah, it looks so innocuous when you're driving over. It's a pretty bridge. But somebody came up and said, hey, somebody wants to say hello up there. So I just kind of slogged over.

And like you say, Michael comes out of his apartment on Fifth Avenue when he's on his cane when I saw him anyway. And I gave him a big, gross, sweaty hug. And then I reached for his wife, Tracy, and Tracy was like, I'm good. I'm good. Back off, guys. Yeah, I know.

That's enough. Yeah, no, same thing. I absolutely ruined his silk bathrobe. Whatever it was. No, he was, he was, he was, he was, Michael is, I owe a lot to him because, you know, my dad was a guy that never, I think my dad said the word Parkinson's maybe three times in my entire, in his entire life that I, that I, that I knew of, didn't talk about it. My dad was Archie Bunker incarnate. And I, you know, he was a very prideful man, difficult man at times, stubborn as hell. But when Michael came out and talked about it, you know, that gave so many people licensed to, you know, sort of feel less alone.

My dad didn't get my dad talking about it so much, but I could tell something shifted for him that he thought, wow, if that guy, if Michael J. Fox, One of the biggest movie stars in the world can not only also have, carry this disease with him every single day, but devote his entire life to raising awareness and talking about it, to create a massive foundation that is designed to go out of business one day for the best reason. That's, you know, that's pretty, I mean, there's nobody better. Yeah. One of the other focuses of your Morta Parkinson's campaign is on the caregivers.

In this case, your mom, Tammy, who's a saint. And my mom, Jody, who's here somewhere tonight. And George. And Jordan. Yeah. They're all here. And evidently two of your exes. No, not mine.

Not mine. Not my. I wasn't really listening backstage. I was working my way through the eight-gallon hummus that is apparently my rider. We're going to just pause real quick here because we both walked into our dressing rooms. And there was a bowl of hummus. It's affected by the top. It's like one of those barrels of hummus.

One of those, like a wine barrel. I want to know the person who loaded us up with that and thought, they'll finish this. Like, who doesn't finish this before a show? They have ladles in them. It smells like low tide and Coney Island in our room. And you're just like, I don't know. Are we off to war?

What's happening here? I don't like this. Yeah, so if anybody wants hummus, there's plenty backstage. Or, yeah, or 420 individually wrapped Werther's Toffees. Somehow we got from your mom to hummus. Let's go back to your mom. It's a natural transition. It is. It is.

But just talk about within the context of this campaign what your mom has been through. Well, my mom has been through a lot. You know, I think caregivers everywhere. And, you know, some people call them caregiving partners or, you know, some say caregivers. You know, people have different terms for it. But my mom, yeah, she was a caregiver. And it's a very difficult job.

It's a very isolating job. It's a, you know, you're, you're, it's sort of like you both have it. You know, and especially when you're dealing with someone like my dad who didn't talk about it, you feel extra alone, you know, in it. And I really felt for her. And we all, you know, man, I swear, I wrote this line into a movie years ago, but boys always come back for their mama. And, you know, my three older brothers and I, we really circled the wagons around her

and, you know, made sure that, you know, particularly when my dad was still around, that she really had her own space to go to and her own kind of, you know, pools of fulfillment to hold on to and kind of, you know, lean on. And, yeah, it's a real thing. Caregivers fatigue is tough, man. It's a very, a lot of people go through it. I know there's people here going through it. Yeah, it's tough for both sides, really.

Yeah. Love to Tammy and love to Jody, our caregivers. That's for sure. And for the people in this room, by the way, Acadia is a great resource. Morta Parkinson's campaign. You can look it up. If it's affecting you or your family,

it's a good resource. place to go. Yeah, talking about it too. It's really about bringing it up to healthcare professional and just sort of, you know, broaching the subject because some people don't know about this part of it. Yeah. Good on you for focusing on it. Thank you. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Ryan Reynolds right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Ryan Reynolds. We mentioned Rexum a minute ago. Yeah. There was a big match today. I know it didn't. I know. Willie. I know. Wait.

I know it didn't go the way you planned, but can we put it in perspective? Oh, yes. Let's put it in perspective, Mom. Sorry. I get very angry when I'm angry. He's about to walk. He's about to, he's shutting down.

I can see it happening. No, I'm good. I'm with you. Let's put it in. Here's the perspective. Just a five to one loss. At home in front of everyone. Oh, no.

Oh, he's crying. Oh, no. The hummus is coming back up. Oh, no. Sorry, I'm sorry. Why was there posto in it? I digress. But you and your buddy Rob bought a share in this team. Was it five years ago, ish, six years ago?

We didn't buy a share. We bought the whole team. We bought the whole team. Okay. They bought the whole team. It was insane. Yeah, it was a very silly thing to do. A team that was nowhere near the Premier League, you guys know football, that's the top. And you guys are now knocking on the door of the Premier League. And you were like four tiers below that or so. We were as low as you got.

We were close to a beer league when we started. So the obvious question is what compelled you? Over there they just call it a league. Right. So what compelled you guys to buy this soccer club? I don't know. You know, honestly, it was, sports is like some of the most romantic storytelling there is. Like, it really, it really is.

And Rexum was the third oldest football club on Earth. And it was in this town that it just seemed kind of like a town we could kind of learn about. And we wanted to really kind of, we wanted to be a part of their story instead of pulling them into our story. So it was about kind of like listening, which I think Rob is very good at. I'm very good at. I think we love listening. We love hearing people's stories. everyone has a story.

I remember early on, one of the, one of the, my fellow producers was struggling to find some of those stories, and we were hanging out with the vicar in Rexham. I think his name's David, and he was saying, he was talking a little about the church, 500-year-old church, you know, Yale is buried there. There's a lot of history. Incredible. And, you know, the producers saying,

yeah, it's just struggling to find some of these stories. And the vicar says, well, I'm off, I've got to go. Thank you so much. It was so nice meeting you both. And I said, wonderful to meet you. you were off to? He said, I'm off to an exorcism. He laughed, and the producer keeps going, yeah, it's just sort of, I don't know, I can't find any stories. And I'm, and I'm like, he's going to pull a demon out of a kid.

Run to walk. So, yeah, it was wild, you know. But it turns out it wasn't all demon hunting. You know, the town is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been. And to see that a town could be revitalized, so revitalized, simply by feeling seen, it sort of speaks to just how people can be revitalized just by feeling seen. And, you know, Rexham five years ago, that was a town that really wouldn't, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would say the name Rexum. And now they can't say it without a eating grin on their face. I mean, literally, it's like a transformation unlike anything else.

This year alone, 74 different countries visited Wrexham to see this club play football. And, I mean, that's unbelievable. And there's a Wrexham everywhere. There's rexom's in Pennsylvania, in every state, in New York. And everywhere you look, in every country in the world, there's a rexum. You know, and these are just towns that feel like they've been forgotten or lost, and industry left them. And, you know, they sort of lost that sort of mutual feeling of belonging.

to something. And the football club doesn't work unless the town works. So Rob and I, this isn't a TED talk. Like, we don't know what we're doing. Like, we might walk out with a little microphone on our face, but we have no clue. And I'm telling you, that

is the greatest, like, ace card to have in any industry is to say, I don't know, and to listen. And, you know, when they talk about politicians flip-flopping and stuff, and they're like, this is a... He's flip-flopping again. I'm like, flip-flop, baby. I want the guy with the nuclear codes

rethinking things. Like, I want that. Like, I love that. I think that's a very, that's a strong personality trait to, you know, reconsider stuff, you know? So, really, I just think it's like a, this whole experience has changed us

as much as it's changed this town. And the town, if we create a successful football club that is like, just makes it to the Premier League and it's like this huge deal, but the town fails, then the whole thing is a disaster. care. They cannot

work without each of them, the high tide raising both boats. So what's been amazing about it is it's worked so symbiotically. Like the town this last year had 190 million pounds in tourism revenue. Like these people coming to wrecks them, a steel town, ex-steel town, ex-cold town. You know,

they lost so many people in this Grasford disaster and a mining accident, which has sort of been what the town has kind of been known for. And I'm just so blown away by it all. The whole thing to just sit there today. Even today, Mom, and a Five to one loss, you look at it and you go, if we could have said five years ago to anyone in this town that in five years, we will be knocking on the door of the Premier League with Wrexham, this town, this team. They would have not, they never would have believed you.

They would never, they just would have said, that's a fantasy. It's a fairy tale. So it's been, it's been one of the great loves of my life, truly. You know what you did? You just put it in perspective, son. Thank you. Thank you. Willie, you're the friend, you're my friend, but you're also the dad I never had.

Oh, no. And you're the dad I don't have. Sorry. No pressure, buddy. It's a heavy burden. Heavy burden. What was the reaction in Wrexham initially when they heard movie star Ryan Reynolds is buying the football club? Was there skepticism?

What did they think when you rolled into town? God, they were like, the guy from Lala Land. Why? Why? Um, I don't know. I think they were just really baffled. And you know what was great was I was also really baffled. So we were all in it together.

I mean, I was like, I don't know. Anything about the sport with the kicking. But we quickly learned and fell in love. Now I'm sitting up at two in the morning watching like, you know, like some like country I've never heard of playing the World Cup, like qualifying around them. Like, no way! Let's go, you know, name I can't pronounce. What's funny, too, is now you're like this ambassador for football,

something I'm sure you never would have imagined five years ago when you didn't know anything about the sport, as the World Cup comes here, and you're bringing Rex into the U.S. for the tour this summer. Yeah. I mean, how cool is that? Playing in Yankee Stadium. Yeah.

I mean, we're playing, you know, Liverpool, at Yankee Stadium in July. And, I mean, it's just wild to, you know, this is another thing I wish my. dad could have seen. Like, he just would have, I don't know, he would have been blown away. I think it would have meeting his daughters and, you know, and seeing some of that stuff, I think, would have just changed his whole life, really. Yeah. It would be just incredible. You know, he's, and he was never, you know, he's never a cynical guy either. He's a tough guy, but he was never a guy that was like, don't do that, you know, I'm going to crap on your dream or anything. He was always like,

you know, go fly, man. You could do it, do it, you know. So, yeah. Yeah, it's cool. And welcome to Rexum, the series has won 10. And it means, I think, is the number at least something like that. Yeah, it was wild. I was not expecting that, you know. I don't know. Everything, like, yet you do that's great, I think, in life is kind of for you in a weird way. Like, when you make, like, a show or a movie or anything else that you love doing, it's, it's, you do it for yourself.

And it's almost like you look up and then the outcome is there and you weren't expecting it. Everything I've ever done thinking, oh, I hope it does this or I get this when they, if I give that, I'll get this. It doesn't work. And if it does work, it's kind of, like, unsatisfactory. in some way or sort of like. So I don't, the show, Rexum has just been a privilege to work on.

But, you know, and that all, all these Emmys are happening, all these things are happening. These accolades and people are loving the show, we were never expecting. Same with Deadpool. I remember Disney coming into the edit room

and Deadpool and Wolverine and just going like, hey, we'd like to release the movie now. Give it to us. I was like, no, I'm still playing with it. You know, we were just tinkering and playing, and we're so in love with it.

And Sean Levy and I, the director and my creative partner, We were just like, we wanted to stay in that playground forever. It was like that on all three Deadpool movies because it was just so beautiful and fun. There was no outcome. We weren't thinking of doing anything, breaking records or anything. We were hoping it would return the investment made in us.

That was it. But, yeah, Rexham feels a lot like that. We don't want anything. It's just been amazing. And those are the best experiences, aren't they, when you weren't really expecting anything? And then all this comes to you. Walking on Fifth Avenue and seeing some guy in a Rexham jersey?

Who's from Patterson, New Jersey? Yeah. Come on. What's happening, man? Like, I suddenly want a selfie with him. I'm like, hey, can I get a selfie? Just want it real quick. Sorry, I know you with your kids, sir.

So what we've learned tonight is if you're short on time, don't stop Ryan and talk about Wrexham, because it's going to be a minute. You will be begging to leave after, by hour four. You're like, is there an intermission in this or what? If I stuff a 20 in your mouth, can I go? How does this work? That's how they're going to be.

It's going to be terrible. So, Rexit, we'll talk about Deadpool in a second, but this is, Rexham is just one of these things I was just talking about that don't, you've got your movie career, and then we've talked about aviation tonight, Mint Mobile, you've got a mobile phone company. You've got an F1 team, a sailing team, a football club. We've talked about. That's a rush to judgment for all the facts are in on the F1 team.

You know, a little piece, little tiny. Okay, we'll leave that to the cycle. No responsibility there. And then maximum effort, which is your play on Deadpool, of course, the name, which is the marketing company that Ryan founded and runs with a bunch of talented people. So how, I'm curious, given all that, is there a thread through all those things? In other words, what do you look for when you take on a project like that that has nothing to do with movies? Well, I think it's easy to look at those and go, oh, you're winning, you know, but there's like 50 times that many things that didn't work.

Okay. So, you know, we tend to focus as a society on, like, we Instagram our lives, right? Like, look, I'm amazing. But, like, none of you saw the sugar panda ad campaign I did about a cocaine-addicted cartoon polar bear. And his friend, the panda, who was always bleeding, but was trying to get your kids off sugar. You know, like, no, there's a lot of misses. But there's also, you know, that's the sort of love of it. The throughline is storytelling.

We love storytelling. Bringing people together in smart, fun, and unexpected ways is literally the motto of maximum effort. And bringing people together is the best feeling on earth. And if it can be a job as well, like, let's go. I'm in. I'll punch in right now. I mean, watching, you know, when you sit in Wrexham

and you're watching these supporters come into the stadium, you know, it's just like here, you know, one person is a liberal, one is a, you know, a Tory, and one's a labor, and that's conservative, and, you know, sort of liberal. And, you know, they come in and they put, they're wearing the same shirt. They sit next to each other.

They put their arms around each other. And then they start chanting the same filthy songs. And to me, that's heaven. Like, that's actually, like, the thing that's so missing everywhere in life right now is this, like, you know, like, yeah, just kind of putting the identity politics aside for a minute and just going like, hey, you have a pulse.

I have a pulse. Like, let's have pulses together. And watch something really amazing and beautiful together. And I think that that's like, so, you know, so much of what we do is the throughline is storytelling. And really, but bringing people together through storytelling. Like, things that really touch our soul as a people don't, aren't polarizing. You know, they're the things that really we all have in common, you know. And the things you don't, it doesn't surge clicks online to talk about these things as much as it does,

things that are polarizing or divisive. So I don't know. There's a, I think there's a really scalable business. in bringing people together in a weird way. It occurs to me that you occupy spaces where people come together, which is sports, movies. I remember I interviewed you right after the massive success of Deadpool a couple of summers ago, and you said it was just about dumping buckets of joy over people's heads.

You just wanted people to enjoy it and have fun, and there was no agenda to it, really. No, I think it's like, it's a bit like, you know, we did this documentary on John Candy, and I really love John Candy for so many reasons. and, you know, yeah, he's the best. Uncle Buck, you know, I mean, he's a guy that really brought people together. He's a guy that you knew was a good person when nobody was looking.

And there's something about him in his life. But really, more than that, and Deadpool Wolverine, this sort of ties back into that, which is that there's nothing people, I think, like more or love more than seeing somebody or something we desperately missed but didn't know we missed. And John is a bit of that, I think, in the world right now. And, you know, in Deadpool Wolverine, to me, that was Wesley Snipes. I know, this is a guy, that's redemption at its best. Him coming in his blade in that movie was one of the best feelings to me in the world,

sitting at Comic-Con with 6,000 nerds watching him show up as Blade, and none of them knew it was coming was, you know, the elation in that room was like a feeling that you just never, ever want to give up and put down. And that's not, you know, that isn't a business. That's just a feeling. Yeah. Feeling is storytelling, right? That's what I say.

Sean and I always said when we're making movies, and we've made three together. We made a free guy, Adam Project, Deadpool, and Wolverine. Each one is based on a feeling. Yeah, I think that everybody relates to that, right? It's less about, like, well, the logic is this, this, and this. It's like, no, the feeling. We want people to walk out of that movie theater,

feeling much better than when they walked in. And they made a big investment in us. You know, they maybe got a babysitter. They paid for parking, concessions. They sat town. Yeah. They did all a lot of stuff, you know. to get there and give you two hours of their time and money,

and they should walk out of there feeling better, not worse. Yeah, yeah. So, you know. Yeah. You mentioned the John Candy Doc. I like me, which is line of his from planes, trains, as you'll remember. I didn't realize until I watched the doc,

and then I saw you in Letterman talking about it, the amazing Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, Connecticut, if you've been there, it's amazing. The prospector's awesome. Yeah, it's a great theater. I didn't realize what an influence John Candy had on you. And then after watching, I was like, oh, there it is. Like, he's funny, but there's a sweetness to it.

He was your guy. He was my guy. I mean, I don't know. Growing up, he did it all first. John Candy owned the Toronto Argonauts. That's a football club football like this way. Yeah. And, you know, he was a trailblazer in so many ways.

And, you know, Dan Aykroyd, who was one of the hardest people on Earth to track down and get an interview with, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. I would wish trying to get an interview on my worst enemy there. Yeah, you go get them. Good luck. They're just elucid as hell. But Dan Akra gave probably the most beautiful eulogy I've ever heard in the history of eulogies

because it was so about John, not about his John or even your John. Or, you know, it was about John. And it was selfless. And it's hard to make a eulogy selfless, I think. And Dan Akra gave this eulogy. It was just so beautiful. I was so glad he said yes, because I didn't have a live recording of it. So we had to voice dub it with AI at first just to hear what it would sound like,

and it was so much like Dan Aykroyd that I felt dirty. So I was like, I must find Dan Aykroyd. And I found him eventually, and he allowed us in. And he's like, he just called out of nowhere. I went like, what's up? You want to, I hear you're looking for me? I was like, yeah. I'd love to interview you for this John Candy documentary, sir, if you'd have me.

if you'd have me, that would be great. He goes, I'll tell you what, kid, you come out here, you stay at my place, you spend the night, we have dinner together. In the morning, we do the interview, you get the F out. Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Ackroyd, I will be there. And that's the way it went.

That is exactly, like, to a prescriptive. That was how it went, yeah. So the Bill Murray piece, we share this. Bill Murray did this show years ago, and it was kind of a watershed moment for us, because when he agreed to do it, like open the door and the next day, like, Letterman's guy called and Bill,

and Seinfeld's guy called and all that. But to get Bill Murray, and this is true, I think you probably went through this too, he has from the 80s a 1-800 number. Does he still have it? That you call and leave a message, and if he's interested,

which he's not, he will call you back. Did you go through that experience? No, mine was a Greek shipping company. What? Yes. It was a Greek shipping. company, I left a voicemail. I didn't buy it.

And then I left another voicemail. And then it got badgerie, like a lot of voicemails. And then he did call finally. But he opened with the line, he said, Ryan, who would you say is the godfather of the spit take? And I was like, I'm sorry, what now? Is this Bill Murray? Yeah, who's the godfather of the spit take?

And I was like, oh God, I would say that, it may have been, and he was like, Danny Thomas by. I was like, no! Oh, no. Yeah, and I was like, oh, God, no. And I kept calling him back, and finally he answered again, you know. And I, yeah, I basically got him to, with my son and a video. I sent him to a video of my son saying, do the damn interview, Bill.

And he finally called back and said yes. Good on you for exploiting your child to get the interview. It's a tough business. That's the exploitation that almost anyone would condone. No, it's a tough business. No, I have 100%. The Child Exploitation Society of America was like, no, you get a pass on that. If you got you, Bill Murray, you're good.

That's fine. He's not making a phone somewhere in another country, so your kid's fine if he's doing it. If you haven't seen the John Candy Duck, it's incredible. It's so beautiful. And get a lot of awards talking rightfully. Yeah, it's been really great. I want to hop back quickly to Deadpool because that, talking about seminal moments, to me, and that was 10 years ago, February that came out.

So it's February 16, the first one. And I don't think people appreciate what it took to get that movie made. And there are all these moments along the way where it's just not going to happen. No. Including you, like, going to the altar and being like, I'm about to do this other movie. Can we do Deadpool instead? And they're like, no. I know.

Can you imagine if you go back in time, if I could go back in time, I did men pants, to be honest. And boy, would I be wealthy. But you're all wearing my invention today. But no, if I could go back in time. It's a weird tangent. Everyone on there. And I didn't have an aviation yet. But the, yeah, no, it was, it was one of those moments that I just,

we really harnessed a lot of help from the Internet, you know. You know, it was very vocal about it. But it was, it got that moment of like, you know, hey, I got to go do this other movie. It was Green Lantern. And they were like, yeah, you go do that. And that didn't work very well. But I still held out hope.

And then it got to be borderline terrorism. Some absolute Yahoo leaked the test footage we shot onto the internet, which, if you ask me, it was disgusting, and we're still looking for justice there. But the internet seemed to like what they saw, demanded a Deadpool movie, and we had a green light within like 24 hours. So while we continued to be vigilant about finding this perpetrator,

we had ourselves a go-movie. So elusive. So we had to put the search on hold. P.S., it was the one-armed man. And we shot the movie. But we shot it on nothing, and it was the greatest lesson and creative lesson in my life. Because anytime there's too much money and too much time,

murder creativity, it just really kills it. And Deadpool had none of that. We had no time, no money. we had this minuscule budget. I gave my own salary just to put it back on the screen just to make it because I just couldn't believe

I got to finally do it. And we just hammered down on that suit we wanted to make the best super suit in any movie ever. And I think we did. And it was, I mean, yeah, speaking of my son, I mean, I once have put that thing on

in front of him. You did? Well, yeah, of course, I have to at some point, you know. Also, P.S. I stole the suit. But yeah, I mean, it was, come on, there's nothing better than that. What did he think? Well, he has his little, like, you know, Amazon.com suit on it.

It's just, like, out in the field just doing, like, air karate kicks. And, like, he feels so good about himself. And every time I watch him, I'm just like, I want to recapture that feeling. Like, I want to live in that feeling of, like, being a three-year-old out in a field doing karate kicks in the air. Clearly, like, not going to be able to take on even, like, a slug out there. But, like, living is his best life. It's just like, it's such a beautiful thing. And what does he think when he sees dad in the actual costume?

He kind of loses his marbles. He can't believe it. The problem is when I take the mask off in the movie, you have scar makeup on and, like, hideous, you know. So he's always like, ah, oh, oh, with the ass back on. So when he watches the movies, he just can't wait for me to put the mask back on. I still am a little stuck on the three-year-old watching Deadpool,

anyone who's hit. But that's okay. That's okay. I don't let him see the hardcore parts. Okay. I just let him see, like, the opening number. which are dance and a lot of that kind of stuff, and then he gets really obsessed with that stuff.

So don't call any authorities. They're actually waiting outside. The first movie I ever saw a movie, they were standing by me, rated R. Yeah. Yeah. Then Dune, I think that was rated R. The David Lynch one.

I was Beverly Hills cop. My mom can attest. Jody. That's a good mom. Yeah. Right? That's a hardcore movie. I learned a lot.

I learned a lot that night about drug trafficking. Yeah, right. Have bombs. Oh, totally. Totally. Totally. So, Ryan, what did you know about Deadpool that it seemed like no one else knew or the studio didn't understand? Why did you think it could be what it became when no one else saw it? I think I honestly just thought he was this kid.

He's like joy. He's like this joy ball, but so acerbic and dark and you could kind of, you know, play in all kinds of mediums. But also he was aware that he was in a comic book. So if he was aware that he was in a movie, you can kind of get away with anything. Like, sky's the limit. Mischief to me is my mistress. So I love mischief, you know. And April Fool's is the biggest holiday in our house.

Is it really? Like, oh, my God. Every toilet is saran wrapped. Like, don't put your shoes on, because there's going to be a crab salad that's been on my dashboard for four days inside those slippers. Just waiting for the little piglets to get in there.

No, I love mischief, and that's what that character is. And that's what, you know, draws me to him. over and over again, but you're always smuggling in a message or like a feeling and something that actually means something. You know, redemption, you know, feeling kind of shame or the first

one was about shame, the second was family. The third one was redemption. You know, how we all deserve that moment of redemption. You know, we're not, we're never our worst moment, nor are we our best. You know, as much as we'd like to think we are. And I mean that. A lot of people think they're their worst moment and they're not, you know.

And a lot of people think they're their best moment and they just need to take it down a notch. So, yeah, Deadpool represents a bit of that. I think it also, we've talked about the sport, came along at a good moment, too. There had been so many of those Marvel movies. And it was like, can someone, like, take the piss out of this a little bit, right? Oh, my God.

And there you were. Yeah. It's one of my favorite moments in Devil Wolverine is, like, when I look back at Wolverine and I'm like, you know, I say something like, welcome to the Marvel universe or something like that. I look back at him and I go, like, you're joining in a bit of a low point. And then I go back to him and, you know, go back to him. It was one of my favorite moments, watching the head of Marvel watch that for the first time.

It was like the greatest, that's the movie. I was like, can we just shoot him watching that for the first time? That's what, that's the good stuff. Stick around for more of my conversation with Ryan Reynolds right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Ryan Reynolds. You're talking about your son. You're a very busy man, but one thing I do know about you. is your wife and your kids are first.

Always. And I remember the last interview we did at a mutual place where we like to go, you pulled up to the interview, it was the summer, you were in your Jeep, the top was off. And I think there were like...

My shirt was off, yes. That was, yeah. It's just how I drive, really. Yeah, it's right. And you kept going, yes, it's me. I never understand guys that are in their car shirt off. I'm like, that's uncomfortable.

Don't tell me it's not. You're sweating like a big, that vinyl stuck to you. When you get out of that car, your entire bucket seats coming with you. There's no way. Sorry, go on. Just peeling off the seat, yeah. But I think you had three car seats

and you said, I'm sorry I'm a couple minutes late. I was doing camp drop off. Like you, people don't appreciate that, I feel like, oh, you're just a movie star and everything else. But that is the thing. Trust me, my kids don't go, oh, he's a movie star. But that is the most important thing in your life.

Yeah. No, it is. I don't know. Just like my kids are, you know, my wife and kids are everything. I mean, that's it. You know, this is the, you know, when we finally close our eyes to this mortal dumb show, those are the ones that are going to matter, you know. You're not going to be like, God, I wish we got a season 14 wrecks some pickup. Right. Right as I'm like flickering away, I'm going to grab my kids and go, I wish I delivered more value to the shareholders. Dad was great. But what joy in terms of balance in your life does being a dad bring you? Well, I mean, there are so many facts.

Like, you know, I don't know, everybody feels the same way, I think, about their kids in the sense that, like, you just, watching them eat, you think about how many kids don't get that opportunity to just eat. You know, you watch all those little things are such, like, you know, sober reminders that drag you back down to earth and remind you to be grateful, I think. Like, I know that's so kind of corny, but I really, I feel like having. kids is like a version of prayer almost. Like you're kind of like great. Just gratitude is like everywhere all the time because they're healthy or they're alive or they overcame something.

Maybe you couldn't. So I don't know. Our job is to like make them or help them be, you know, better than the version that we thought of ourselves at that age. You know, I never thought of myself as someone who could do anything out there.

Please get it. What a moment, too. Don't wait on a. Just grab it. No, no. It's fine. Well, wait. Who is it?

If you're not happy with your current carrier, I know a guy. I see you, lady. This was all an elaborate setup for a Mint Mobile plug. And there was. You'll all be receiving a $50 voucher and norovirus on your way out. It's like a cruise. It's like a cruise. Whew.

Yeah. But you were saying about your. children. Speaking of norovirus, whenever I think of Norovirus, I think of my kids. Yeah, no, I just, I don't, I can't believe I get to spend time with them. I can't believe I'm aware of that. You know, I feel like we all sort of say that and kind of miss it.

But, like, at the same time, I'm completely fallible and I get obsessed with my work and I get all those things, but, like, they won't let me leave like that. they pull you back in and you know i i yeah i'm just really really grateful every day that i get to kind of learn from them and you know when you have kids too you kind of heal a lot of that crap you hold it on to from when you were a kid you know those things that you think oh didn't work out exactly right and you have you know there's no replacement on earth for experience there's just nothing that trumps it it's really that's it's it's it's experience beats youth beauty any of that stuff and i having kids really you just rack up the there's that great line from in

Indiana Jones. It's not the years baby. It's the mileage. And it's so true, though, it's that, you know, it really is the experience you get on this great little journey we're all on and applying that to your kids and being, I just love being honest with them and telling them everything, you know? I mean, yeah, I don't, they see, especially with me and, you know, they're, you know, my wife and I work in showbiz, so they see a lot of winning and stuff like that. So you always have to sort of remind them like, we lost, we lose. You take hits. You make hits. You make. You. miss, you try stuff and fail, and like you can't be good at anything unless you're

willing to be bad at it. And that's hard for a kid, right? You know, and it's hard for me still, and I say that to them. And I just, I love that I get to heal that. I get to sell the things that I wish someone said to me at that age, you know, like, go suck at something. Seriously, yeah, yeah, go suck at something.

Go pick up an instrument and make it sound, make it make a sound, it will be terrible forever. And then one day it won't. You know, pick your music. they all sucked at first. Pick your idols. They all sucked at first. They took a risk. So you're kind of telling your kids all that stuff and you're like, well, maybe I will play that 15th century Dutch impressionist in that movie.

And then your wife goes, I don't know if you want to do that. And I go, you know what? You might be right. That would be a disaster. You were great in that, by the way. Yeah, you were great. Thank you very much. Yes. It's been by Ryan Reynolds. The thing I would say to is for you, it gets better as it goes. I mean, when they... Are you 16 and 18, 18? 16's here tonight. He's my favorite guy to hang out with in the world.

Bar none. Work with a lot of great people, got a lot of great friends. There's nobody I'd rather hang out with. No, right, I know. It's not crazy, yeah. Same with me. It keeps getting better. I know.

I'm like constantly bribing them. Oh, you want a bicycle? Well, let's go. It's a four-hour drive over there. We're going to have plenty of time to chat. And you finally got the little boy energy in the house with your son, which is nice. That was a mistake.

We did not mean to do that. I swear to God. We never found out until they, you know, come out the old shoot. I'd never call it that. The Chrysalis. There's going to be a lot of clean-up and edit. I'll workshop that. I'll workshop that when I'm in the edit.

What's up, guys? I'm here to work at NBC. Again, NBC. Yeah. On today with my friend the Geiss, the Geissman. No, no, yeah, it's, yeah, we weren't planning, but boy, howdy, has that been a treat? Fun, right? There was the first hour, I was like, oh, no.

Like, I'm the youngest of four boys. I was, you know it, right, Terry? I was a moving target. He's a cop. My dad was a cop. Do you know many times I've been handcuffed to a fridge? Oh, what's that, Tara? Oh, that's a pepper spray.

Oh, no, oh, come on. Like, yeah, that's, that was my youth. Just a little fun around the house? Yeah, yeah, you know. like hit my uvula this time. We were psychotic. Like, I think we were all psychotic. And then I love you say your mom would call the cops

to break up the fight. The cop was your dad. And the cop was like, yeah, like, yeah, like a relative would show up in the front lawn. Like, you know, oh, no, that's, okay, yeah, no, we're definitely screwed now. So much worse than a cop. Yeah.

Oh, terrible. I think for a while you and Blake had it where if you're working on a movie, she's not. And vice versa. Is that still how you do it? So somebody's always... Yeah, we don't work at the same time generally. You know, last year, two years ago, it got screwed up

because there was a big strike. And, you know, that's life. And that strike was necessary and important for so many, you know, families in this business. I mean, it was a huge moment for the industry and kind of a wake-up call as well. And so that forced working the same time. But, no, for the most part, we're...

You just always want the kids to feel anchored to something and someone. We are home, you know? So we can all travel somewhere. shoot a movie in far-off lands, but we're home, so we go together, you know, and we realize that's an obscenely stupid privilege to be able to do that, because, like, a lot of families can't do that. A lot of crew members can't do that. So we're really lucky to go, you know, do the work that we love doing and storytelling in different ways, but also take the family

with us, and they learn so much, and my kids get to see, you know, a lot of far-off lands and places and, you know, these press tours for these movies, you know. Disney's like, you can, you can bring an assistant along and I'm like, yes, I got one this tall. How do you, because we grapple with this a little bit too, how do you keep them grounded and tell them that that experience that you're talking about is exceptional

and that it's not normal and how do you do that? It's a constant dialogue. You know, it's a constant dialogue, but you're also constantly exposing them to everything else. You know, the other side of life, you know, for so many people is so different, you know. And it's, um, my kids, thankfully, are very, You know, one thing we got right is that each kid is compassionate,

and they have real empathy. I mean, they cannot handle suffering and knowing they can do something about it. So, like, you know, our kids are always doing lemonade stents, always doing everything to raise money for, you know, sick horses or dogs or adoptions or things. And I'm just like, oh, my God, we've done something right, you know. Like, if you could ask me, like, 15 years ago, I'd be like, yeah, they'll probably be practicing rolling cigarettes at five. You know, yeah, that's good, yeah.

But, no, they're like much better people than I am. That's for sure. Yeah, they've got to figure it out. The spotlight, obviously, has its benefits, but it can be hard to. You and Blake, for the last year and a half, have gone through this very public legal proceeding. How have you guys managed that as a family? You know, it's sort of like anything else. It's a great, you know, you really see kind of the illusion behind so much of this stuff.

digital life versus real life, you know. But really without getting into it too much, I'll just say I've never in my life been more proud of my wife. Really. Like, people have no idea what's really going on, you know? And I've just never in my life been more proud of someone with that level of integrity that brings that with them and carries that with them and everything that they do.

Yeah. And that's unique, I think, in this world, especially these days where it's like cool to be cruel sometimes, you know? It's like a different world out there. And I think holding your own, you know, and especially in the work, too, like, that's the one gift, greatest gift that we have is we get to go tell stories. And what kind of stories are you going to tell? What do you want to leave people with? What do you want to leave people with?

What do you want to feel and think about afterwards, you know? So, again, like, it goes right back to bringing people together. Like, you know, you don't meet the age we're living in with more of that kind of causticness. And, you know, it's just an odd time, I think, for a lot of people, especially kids too, right? Like, you know, the digital world is very scary, you know, when you have kids. And I think it's got to change. These algorithms and those kinds of stuff, you know, we've got to really find ways to protect people. Because it's not going anywhere, you know.

It's going to be a part of our lives. We have to integrate it on some level. But it's just not real a lot of the times. And it's, yeah, you see a lot of kids, especially teenagers who are really, really broken by this. I don't have teenagers yet, but I know that that's coming, you know. And these are discussions we have every day with our kids, you know. It's a huge part of parenting right now. Massive.

Managing that. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you. We do have a couple of audience questions we want to get to. Before we do that, I want to ask you about a milestone coming up for you. I mentioned my wife and I having our 50th birthday party. Yeah. That's coming for you pretty soon, brother.

Oh, boy. We're having a check your prostate party. Have you seen? started, because I found it was a good sort of like a milestone of like, how am I doing? How, how's, not just career and all those things, but family and am I fulfilling my obligations? Am I reaching my potential? All those things. Do you think about that stuff?

Or not yet? No, I do. I think about that stuff all the time. I mean, I don't know. When I was 20, I was like, God, I'd love to live until I'm 25. Like, literally, that's what you think. So, I don't know. I think at the age, I'm at 49 now, I'm like, I really think.

that knowing yourself is the greatest superpower on earth. You know, and I, that's a, yeah, right? I mean, that's like, it's, there's something about that that's so powerful and, like, you know, knowing your own, you know, limitations, knowing the things that make you exceptional in some way, and every single human being has a story and has, you know, something about them that is truly exceptional. I really believe that. And, like, that comes out at this age.

You start to really kind of rest in that in a way that you didn't when you didn't, when you you're younger. You're kind of trying on personalities, like shirts. You know, you're sort of trying to figure out who you are and try to, how do I fit in and how do I, you know, and after a while, you're like, well, p. Fitting in. Like, yeah, that's okay. Like, I want to do it this way. And I like this brings me joy and I'm not hurting anyone and I just want to do something. So I think those things come with age and I think that that's the beauty of it. I don't know. You know, it's just, I don't, I don't shy away from it. I don't know. I kind of like it. You can get my gray hair now. I'm like, I'm like, down on it.

Yeah. Giving a shit a little less is nice, too. It really is. Well, you understand that, like, these things pass, right? You're like, you're a little bit less, you know, apocalyptic about something that happens, and you kind of understand how to, you know, feather the needle a little bit and just kind of, yeah,

be present in the room still and kind of not really lose your mind. So, yeah, it's a good time. I can give you the guy's name here if you won't have your 50th. It's top notch. I do not. If I get the damage deposit back, we've done something very wrong. Let's get in before. Before we release Ryan into the wild, let's get a couple of your questions in.

This is from Sandra Delaney in Washington. Are you here? Sandra? Sandra? I don't know. She's gone. She walked there she is. Hi. Is it Sandra? Sandra. Sandra. We were both doing the same thing. Which one? Sandra. Thank you, Sandra. Here's Sandra's question, Ryan. If you had to trade careers with one of your characters for a year, any character in any of your movies. Okay? Uh-huh. who would it be

and which would you absolutely refuse to become in real life? Wow. That's kind of a deep... Sandra. They didn't let you ask the question yourself. They had to get him to translate. I don't understand.

I mean, come on. God, so if I could pick one character that I just could be... Yeah, I like that guy. Yeah. I like the job he had. Oh, wow. That's a good. Good question. I don't know. I really, you know what? I think I liked this character, Andrew, and the proposal.

Maybe it's because you're named Sandra. I was thinking of that. It might be that. I don't know. Yeah, I like that one. He was a good boy. Yeah. It wouldn't be Deadpool. I know people might think that. There you go. It would be exhausting. Thank you, Sandra. Great question. Oh, one I'd want to stay away from? Oh, I probably, I mean, I know you think I'm going to take me a lantern. But, no, I think that's Deadpool. That's the one where you're like, oh, boy, persona and real life start to get too, and you want to kind of step away from that for a second, yeah.

Andrew and Deadpool, there's your answer. Thank you for the question. Andrew Pool. Amy from Newtown, Pennsylvania. Where's Amy? Somewhere? She's in old town. There she is.

Hi, Amy. How do you stay energized all the time, Ryan Reynolds, with such full plate. Amy, I am not energized. I'm on a stage in front of hundreds of people right now. This is in a fair comparison. The experiment's not controlled. I stay energized.

I don't know. I mean, not being a drug addict. That's important. I try to, you know, eat well. Are you bored yet? You know, I try to grab five hours of sleep when I can get it. I don't know. I guess we're all just hurtling through space on a giant rock that's on fire, trying not to kill each other.

Yeah, I think so, right? That's good. Yeah. We're doing. Surviving. Surviving, baby. As I say to my kids, every day as they go to school, I say, disappoint one person today. Disappoint one person today. Please. Little people, please. This one's from Kenneth in Staten Island. Kenneth, where are you? Kenneth is here somewhere. Where is he? Oh, Kenneth, fellow. Here it says, Deadpool is the only superhero movie my wife likes. Should this worry me?

Mm, Kenneth. Kenneth, look out now. Be afraid, be very afraid. Hi, maximum effort. Oh, my God. And what's her name? Bernadette. Bernadette, maximum effort to you, my love.

I'm having trouble winking. This is a big one. It might be tough. I gotta think about this, too. Jay in Morrisonville, New York, asks both of us, what is your favorite movie of all time? Favorite?

Aye. Yay, aye. Um. Can anyone guess mine? Oh, my God. Not my own movie. That would be. What a clam I'd have to be if I was like,

well. I really loved my early work in Glover. God's face. Sorry, my mom. I do that to my mom. What's that? What? The last five minutes, by the way, exquisite. But no. Plains, trains, automobiles for me. Willie? Plains trains and automobiles.

Don't say Lawrence of Arabia. We know you're lying. My first favorite movie was Beverly Hills cop, and then it became Boys in the Hood. Wow. When it was in college. Very good movie. And I love Royal Tenant Bombs a whole lot. Well, who doesn't? Like a Wes Anderson.

Gene Hackman. Oh, my God. Hackman, how great is he? That's a good one. Good question. And that brings us to the end of the questions. We're going to release you back into the wild. We are before.

What was mine? Planes, trains, automobiles. Yeah. If I could, no, no, no, that's fine. Back to John Candy. Yeah. That is the movie. If I could just live in that movie, I would be so happy.

I love that movie. It's such a good movie. Both of them. Oh, Steve Martin, John Candy. So beautiful. Wow. Ryan Reynolds has been incredible tonight. We're going to...

Really, guys, ladies and gentlemen. I love that my brother was the only walkout. Go ahead. Oh, he's gone. Just leave. Terry walked out. Terry's beaten the traffic.

Oh, he does. Okay, good. Yeah. You have good pictures of him? Oh, oh, that's nice. He's not a monster. Before we all leave, we're going to to take a mug shot. So Ryan and I are going to stand up here with our amazing photographer Mark who's here. If you have a mug, or even if you don't, I have a mug. Stand up and we're going to do a little shot right out here. All right. NBC, guys. Guys, Ryan Reynolds, everybody. Thank you so much for

coming. Get home safe. Thank you. My big thanks to Ryan for spending so much time with us that night and of course thanks to our friends at city winery in new york our host and sponsor for these evenings welcome to rexon season five premieres on may 14th and we just got the news it's been renewed for three more seasons ryan got a lot more to do and a lot more going on as you heard maybe another deadpool movie we'll see and my thanks of course to all of you for listening again this week if you want to hear more of our conversations with my guests every week be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week

on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.