Why he’s a smash
Ryan Reynolds looks, acts like a star should
If you look at the ratio of his box-office hits to failures over the last 10 years, Ryan Reynolds should be on his way to Hollywood obscurity right now. Instead, the actor isn’t slowing down at all — he’s headlining Deadpool, the highly anticipated superhero movie in theatres Friday. He has another six or seven films in development. There was even a Super Bowl commercial devoted to his likability.
In other words, Reynolds is a guy who will get unlimited chances in Hollywood no matter how badly his movies bomb. There are several reasons. His TV-to-movie trajectory Everyone loves a good old- fashioned success story. Although stars are flocking to TV these days, the movie world is still at the top of the Hollywood food chain. Reynolds started his ascent on ABC’s Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place before making memorable turns in films like Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity and Amityville Horror. Even though he started sputtering with Green Lantern in 2011, it seemed ridiculous to condemn him back to TV after one flop — and even though he hasn’t had a hit movie in years, he’s already climbed so far. It’s natural that things could turn around. He seems like such a nice, normal guy This is crucial: good- looking leading men win about a million extra points if they’re down to earth or boast a self-deprecating personality. In the press, he embraces being a firsttime father to baby daughter James, even throwing in dad jokes: “In my late 30s, I’m just happy my boys can swim,” he told the Daily Mail. He goes on Conan and talks about how — as a heartthrob once married to Scarlett Johansson and currently married to Blake Lively — he used to be a loser who couldn’t flirt with the ladies. His appearance As The Washington Post’s movie writer Stephanie Merry concluded, “Reynolds is proof that we can never underestimate the power of a twinkly smile and a rock-hard body.” It’ s true: Reynolds, like Angelina Jolie and Robert Redford and other impossibly beautiful celebrities, simply looks like a movie star. What else could he be? At this point, he’s kind of an underdog It’s a natural human inclination to cheer for the underdog, even though it’s hard to think of a wealthy movie star in that light. But things haven’t gone perfectly for Reynolds in the last several years, which makes him all the more accessible now. If Ben Affleck’s story taught us anything, people really love a comeback — especially in superhero form.