From running the NYC marathon for Parkinson’s Disease to buying Wrexham soccer club in Wales and pledging $1m to help Ukrainian refugees, it’s fair to say Ryan Reynolds doesn’t just play at being a superhero.

‍Less than two days after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, pledged to match dollar-for-dollar up to $1m in donations to help Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion of their country.

It was a typical offer for a man of action.

“It’s hard not to elicit enormous empathy to the idea that families - big and small - are being told they have to flee their homes they’ve had their whole lives in a matter of minutes,” Ryan said. “I just can’t imagine how that would feel for a parent, let alone anybody.”

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It’s not the first time the couple has opened their wallets. In 2021 they pledged to match donations up to $1m for the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), organizations that fight for civil rights.

They did the same for Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, organizations that combat hunger. Those are just three of a string of huge donations the Reynolds have made in direct responses to crises.

Now Ryan Reynolds is opening up about a debilitating problem of his own, his lifelong struggle with severe anxiety. He's hoping to start a conversation about mental health that will help solve a problem affecting 40m Americans. So, who is this true superhero and what's his solution?
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Life and career

Born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976, Ryan’s the youngest of four brothers. His father, Jim Reynolds, is an ex-Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and Reynolds has described him as a ‘tough’ guy who was difficult to grow up around. 

Two of his brothers also joined the police, but Ryan started acting at 14 and starred in a Canadian teen soap opera known in the US as Fifteen. By the age of 19, with five years of acting experience, Ryan quit university and headed to Los Angeles, hoping for his big break.

Like many actors, Ryan worked hard for his ‘overnight’ success. He went from being a jobbing actor to his first Marvel role in X Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009. In 2016, he starred in Deadpool, the critically acclaimed Marvel superhero movie that catapulted him onto Hollywood’s A-list.

Reynolds isn’t just an actor, of course. He and his partner Rob McElhenney also own the Wrexham soccer club in Wales - about as far away as it gets from the red-carpet glamor of the Academy Awards. They didn’t want to just buy a winning team, though. They wanted to help a community.

“We wanted to buy somewhere that deserves it,” said Humphrey Ker, a Hollywood writer who helped Reynolds and McElhenney find the right team. “Wrexham needs a break, the fans need a break, and the same goes for the town.”
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Dealing with anxiety

Reynolds met his wife, Blake, in 2010 while filming DC superhero movie Green Lantern. The film helped him conquer his fear of flying, developed after a terrifying skydiving incident which left him spinning out of control. (In the movie, Ryan's character flies with the help of high wires, requiring Ryan to finally face his fear head-on.)

‍After Green Lantern, Ryan settled down with his wife Blake and they now share three daughters. Ryan’s children - the eldest born in 2014 - and fatherhood have encouraged him to reveal the very human problems behind the superhero facade. 

Reynolds has opened up in recent years about his lifelong struggle with anxiety, which he partly ascribes to his upbringing: ”This is not meant to be some sob story - everyone carries their own bag of rocks around and I am no different in that regard - but growing up in my house, it was never relaxing or easy. And I know that, throughout my life, I’ve dealt with anxiety in different ways.”

He spoke at length about mental health in a 2018 interview with The New York Times. 

“I’ve always had anxiety,” he said.  “Both in the lighthearted ‘I’m anxious about this’ kind of thing, and I’ve been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun.”

He says he uses mindfulness to deal with the problem and will give interviews ‘in character’ to make himself feel less exposed. He also uses the meditation app Headspace and says that the responsibilities of fatherhood have helped him cope. 

“Part of it is that I have three daughters at home and part of my job as a parent is to model behaviors and model what it's like to be sad and model what it's like to be anxious, or angry - that there's space for all these things,' Reynolds told Entertainment Tonight.

‍“The home that I grew up in, that wasn't modeled for me, really. And that's not to say that my parents were neglectful, but they come from a different generation,” he said.

Reynolds is hoping that by opening up about his less-than-perfect childhood and coping methods he can start a wider conversation about mental health. Anxiety affects an incredible 19 percent of the American population, but it is brushed under the carpet: “We don't talk enough about mental health and don't do enough to de-stigmatize talking about it.”

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Running for Parkinson’s Disease

Ryan has always been a do-er, something that he ascribes in part to his battles with anxiety. After a meeting with fellow Canadian actor Michael J Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, he decided to run the 2011 New York City Marathon to raise funds for research. He also ran in honor of his father, who at the time had spent 15 years battling the disease.

“A year and a half ago, I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Michael J. Fox,” Reynolds wrote in a blog published in 2008. “I found it impossible not to be touched by his story of overwhelming strength, passion, and relentless commitment to helping those afflicted with this insidious disease. The man is inspiration exemplified. Plus, he was in Back To The Future.” 

“While I'll probably never fully understand Michael's struggle, I've had a first-hand peek behind the curtain of Parkinson's. I've watched my father - a strong and proud person who successfully raised four arguably insane children - slowly, cruelly stripped of his independence, his golden years robbed without explanation.”

Ryan completed the marathon in a respectable 3:50:22 and raised $100,000 for Parkinson’s Disease. The following year, he joined Michael J. Fox’s Foundation as a board member because, as well as playing a superhero, Ryan Reynolds is in his own way a true superhero himself.