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Ryan Reynolds biography

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Quick Facts

Best Known For

Ryan Reynolds is a versatile actor who's played a college student, a mutant villain and a superhero. He also made headlines as Scarlett Johansson's ex.

Early Life and Career

Born Ryan Rodney Reynolds on October 23, 1976, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Starting out in television, Ryan Reynolds has become one of the most popular movie actors working today. His first major breakthrough came from the 2002 comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Since then, Reynolds has proved to be adept at all kinds of films, from the comic-book action flick The Green Lantern (2011) to the serious drama Buried (2010).

The youngest of four boys,

Reynolds "was a really nervous kid," he told GQ magazine. "I was extremely sensitive ... I was so aware of everything around me." He found sanctuary in school productions where his vulnerability could be an asset rather than a problem. At the age of 12, Reynolds landed his first professional acting job. He was cast in a Canadian teen drama first called Hillside and later renamed Fifteen when it aired in the United States. The show ran from 1991 to 1993.

After Fifteen, Reynolds struggled to get his career off the ground. He got a few small parts, including a guest spot on The X-Files. Still Reynolds needed to take odd jobs to make ends meet after competing high school. For a time, he worked a late-night shift at a supermarket.

Traveling with a friend, Reynolds moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s. He got his first major television job in 1998, playing a medical student on the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (later renamed Two Guys and a Girl). After the show finished in 2001, Reynolds soon made the leap to feature films. He starred in the comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002) as a perennial, fun-loving college student. While the film did poorly at the box office, it eventually became a cult classic.

Film Career

For several years, Reynolds appeared in a string of lackluster films—both critically and commercially. He played a vampire hunter in Blade: Trinity (2004) opposite Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel and starred in the 2005 remake The Amityville Horror. While his movies may not have been wowing audiences, Reynolds enjoyed great popularity nonetheless. He was featured in People magazine's "Sexiest People" issue in 2007, earning the title "Sexiest Renaissance Man" from the publication.

In 2009, Reynolds's film career took off. He played the mercenary Deadpool in the box office hit X-Men Origins: Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman. Teamed with Sandra Bollock, Reynolds showed his comedic talents in The Proposal. He continued to thrive professionally, expanding his range with the independent drama Buried in 2010. In the film, Reynolds played an American working in Iraq who gets kidnapped and buried alive.

Reynolds made a triumphant return to the big screen in 2011. Taking on a comic book hero, he starred in the summer box office hit The Green Lantern. There even has been talk of a possible sequel. Reynolds then showed off his comedic talents in The Change-Up with Jason Bateman. Not only to

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