Ryan Reynolds: ‘I’m the guy doing calisthenics, I work out like a British person’

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Ryan Reynolds covers the new issue of Men’s Health to promote his second big attempt at a comic-book hero, Deadpool. While I’m not really interested in seeing Deadpool, the ads are okay and I have my fingers crossed that this one works out better than The Green Lantern. As for Ryan… he seems to be happier and calmer these days. I think his marriage to Blake Lively is good, I think he loves being a dad, and I think he’s found some sort of career rhythm. Here are some highlights from Men’s Health:

How fatherhood changed him: “During those first six months, it’s amazing that you find a way to keep going. Just the lack of sleep, and the hallucinations. F–k peyote. You want to trip balls? Have a kid and see what it’s like to be awake for a month straight. You’ll have moments where you’re like, ‘Did I really ride a unicorn to work? I’m pretty sure I didn’t, but I don’t know.”

Fatherhood has made him a “little bit insane”: “I still check on her in the middle of the night and put my fingers under her nose just to make sure she’s still breathing.”

Losing his father to Parkinson’s: “We had a deeply complicated relationship and it leaves behind some questions that are still being answered. Not just about him but, you know… how I’m trying to get better at being a dad and a husband and a man.”

Playing Deadpool: “[It was] something I needed to do. Because I really identified with this character. I understand the idea of filtering pain through a prism of comedy. I think this character does that quite well… He wakes up in the morning exclusively to annoy everyone around him. But for your average civilian like me, I think there’s something really relatable about that idea, that there’s something to be learned by taking life a little less seriously.”

As he’s approaching his 40th b-day, he gets the value of warming up: “I never did stuff like that back in my 20s, but I’m that guy now. I’m the guy doing calisthenics. I’m doing jumping jacks and deep knee bends. I work out like a British person.”

No bitching: “Even if I’ve been in a gym for two hours before a 17-hour day on the movie set, I never bitch about it. Get your sleep when you get your sleep.”

Never be late: “What you’re telling people when you’re late is that their time doesn’t mean a thing to you. And it sends a real bad message right away.”

[From E! News and Men’s Health]

I am 100% behind him on the never-be-late thing. One of the biggest annoyances in the world is someone compulsively late, or someone with no sense of time. And I sort of chuckled at this: “I’m the guy doing calisthenics. I’m doing jumping jacks and deep knee bends. I work out like a British person.” BRIT RAGE! For what it’s worth, I think he was making a reference to the more old-timey image we Americans have British people doing physical activities. Like, how David Niven might have worked out.

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Photos courtesy of Men’s Health.

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46 Responses to “Ryan Reynolds: ‘I’m the guy doing calisthenics, I work out like a British person’”

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  1. Maggie says:

    If he were an animal he’d be a horse. His eyes are so close together and he has a long face.

  2. Tiffany says:

    I don’t buy the lighter/calmer Ryan. I buy the listening to his PR person to change his attitude because he needs a hit Ryan.

    • Locke Lamora says:

      But was he an a-hole before? I’ve never heard anything bad about him, and he’s great in interviews. I really like him.
      Also, from all superhero movies, I’m looking forward to this one the most.

      • Josefina says:

        Yeah, I always thought he was a perfect fit for Blake because deep down they are the same thing. Inoffensive but vanilla and uninteresting to the point of exhaustion.

      • Bridget says:

        I think I remember hearing he wasn’t the nicest when he was just getting big. But appeared to have straightened that out a long time ago.

        He and Scarlett J. were such a weird pairing.

  3. Jayna says:

    I love Ryan and really enjoy him in his movies. He even made a bad movie, The Captive, a little interesting because he was so good in it. His performance kept me hanging in there until the end even though it was a bad movie.

  4. FingerBinger says:

    David Niven and Ryan Reynolds shouldn’t be in the same sentence.

  5. Biting Panda says:

    Maybe I was just incredibly fortunate, but I find the whole “months” of no sleeping thing a bit heavy handed. Given that I was nursing, no one was more awake than I was and yes, it is a pain to be up every few hours, but it wasn’t the sleep deprivation nightmare that apparently every celebrity parent endures.

    • Greenieweenie says:

      I start to wonder if everyone’s child was massively more difficult than mine?

    • swak says:

      Which I don’t understand – the sleep deprivation nightmare of celebs. I learned really quick how to take small power naps when mine were sleeping during the day and just went to bed earlier to get more sleep. And they have way more time to catch up on sleep than I had. @Greenieweenie – agree. I will admit that I was very lucky with my children. They slept through the night by the time they were 3 months old. Went to bed at 7:30 every night and had two naps a day until they went to preschool (even at the babysitters). Sometimes I wonder if getting away from having children on a schedule adds to the chaos. Mine were on a schedule as much as possible. As a full time working person it was easier on me.

      • supposedtobeworking says:

        Mine didn’t start sleeping through the night until they were 6 and 4 respectively. Some kids just don’t. It didn’t matter how busy we were in a day, how relaxed, how short or long our routine before bedtime was. I was the same as a kid (most of my life actually), so are a few members of my mom’s family.

        I think celebs speak like this because it is a part of themselves they can make relatable. I am sure there are a lot of personal thoughts and stories they could tell, but want to keep private?

    • Babyswans says:

      Idk. I think it depends on your capability of handling a lack of sleep. I Am flat out dumb when I don’t sleep. I’m a super detail oriented person and when I don’t sleep, it’s like my brain can’t process the details it needs in order to function in ordinary life and then I either go dumb or become a sleep deprived monster bc I can’t comprehend anything. I was like that with both kids. I sound so pleasant…

      • Mel M says:

        I agree with you babyswans. With my first u had no idea how sleep deprivation was going to effect me but it did big time and I really relate to what he is saying. With my second, he was colicky for 4 months and that turned me into drinking vodka every night, no joke. With my twins, it’s been a whole different level of sleep deprevasion. Especially now with everyone being sick with colds. I have 4 kids waking in the night and no sleeping well during the day. It sucks big time and I don’t like the person I am most of the time right now but it’s pure survival mode right now. The difference is I’m more experienced so I’m getting through it and know there is a light at the end of the tunnel but what I wouldn’t do for 8 straight hours just once to recharge.

    • Bridget says:

      Different children sleep differently. Some folks are lucky and have kids that sleep for long stretches at a time. Some folks aren’t as lucky and have kids that wake up every 2 hours for months on end. Rule of thumb (and pardon my complete non-technical terms, I’m on a bunch of cold medicine and am hazy): you need stretch of at least 3 hours of unbroken sleep to maintain your brain as it is; 4 hours to begin to renew itself/repair from the day before; 5 hours to actually start to feel refreshed. And these are continuous, unbroken stretches.

      • Caitriona says:

        I was just saying the other day that people who find parenting easy have kids that sleep. I totally relate to what he’s saying. My son is 2 years 3 months and he has only slept through the night a handful of times in his life so far and only once did he do 2 nights in a row. Whenever he’s learning a new skill he’ll have about a week of being awake for hours in the middle of the night. It used to be bouncing around but now it’s screaming crying. Sleep deprivation is a means of torture for a reason. We stumble on but every few months I find myself screaming at my husband “this child is NEVER going to f*&king sleep through the night” while crying. At least he does long stretches now. He was at least a year before he ever got past 3 hours. I agree that 3 hours is the minimum you need. We always got at least one 3 hour stretch which we needed to survive.

      • Bridget says:

        My 2nd kiddo was a terrible sleeper too, and it was just miserable. It’s HARD to be woken up multiple times a night, every single night, for months. Power naps do nothing at that point.

        And my husband absolutely got up with me many, many of the nights (especially when it was just 1 kid). It was only when we started getting really, really tired that we’d split sleep shifts.

    • Sticks says:

      You were maybe fortunate then. I found the sleep deprivation to be torturous.

  6. Carol says:

    Did David Niven even work out? I just imagine his workout consisted of rolling out of bed and into a chaise lounge with a glass of champagne.

    Anyway, I must admit I am always late. I blame it partly on my parents who are from South America and according to them, a meeting time is just a suggestion. But in the US, its quite different. Its a hard habit to break people! But I’m trying.

    Love Ryan Reynolds. I hope his career just keeps going upwards.

    • Elisa the I. says:

      …his workout consisted of rolling out of bed and into a chaise lounge with a glass of champagne… #goals 🙂

    • Who ARE these people? says:

      Time is such an elastic concept. In the US, if you show up within 10 minutes of the appointed time, it’s usually okay. In Canada, that seems to be late. Be there at the appointed time or 3-5 minutes early. Maybe the further north you go, the stricter it gets?

      • supposedtobeworking says:

        very true about Canadians ; )

        It’s probably because we don’t want to wait outside in the cold, and if we have to wait inside during the winter, there is the removal of a thousand layers, and that’s a nuisance. Summer is so short, we don’t want to wait around when we could be doing something. Beer gets too warm too quickly to wait for someone who’s late.
        I blame winter.

      • tealily says:

        I think that’s true! Everyone I knew was incredibly punctual when I lived in the Midwest. In the South, everyone’s way more chill about it. I found the same to be true in England, surprisingly (to me).

      • SusanneToo says:

        I must be part Canadian. I hyperventilate at the thought of being late.

  7. Betti says:

    He seems like a nice guy – i loved his appearance on the Graham Norton show and as GN is a bit of a Ryan fanboy he handled it well. When he (GN) had Sandra Bullock on a few weeks ago they were speaking about a scene where she had to run naked at Ryan (who was also naked) and Graham was like ‘You looked great but I wasn’t looking at you’ – hahahaha.

  8. Esmom says:

    I know what he meant, sort of gentle and genteel working out vs the super pumped stuff Americans tend to do know. It’s not even really British, it could be 1950s USA, too.

    If he was that sleep deprived I wonder how his wife felt? I was up with my newborns far more than my husband was. Not a knock at him at all, I knew he had to be functional for work or risk losing it.

    • Sixer says:

      I think I work out like most Britishers. That is to say, I don’t work out. I dig the allotment and as far as I’m concerned, that counts.

      I think a smaller percentage of Brits work out – must go and snort out the statistics to see if I’m right or just talking out of my arse as usual! – but we do have *some* gym freaks. Not that I actually know any. I’m probably allergic to them so it’s good that I don’t.

      Teehee.

      • Locke Lamora says:

        Judging by your reality shows the gym freaks are all men from either Newcastle, Essex or Chelsea. They also seem to be quite orange and enjoy deep v necks.

      • Sixer says:

        Yes! Those are the ones! Although, it should be said that in Real Life, I have never met one of the species.

      • K2 says:

        Sixer, I was just going to say that “working out like a British person” basically means you sign a contract with a gym one year and then never go. And that’s it.

  9. Ivo says:

    Love Ryan ♥I hope Deadpool will be a huge hit.

  10. Sam says:

    I seriously don’t get how anyone could hate this guy or hate his wife…which I know a lot of you on here do. I know none of us know how they really are but they just seem like two people who are putting their family first and raising their daughter out of the spotlight. The fame and Hollywood isn’t even secondary to them…it’s like nonexistent. You never hear from them unless they’re working on a project. Their work speaks for itself…whether it’s bad or good. And from what other people say about both them it’s that they’re two of the most generous people you’ll ever meet. And to everyone who called them idiots for naming their daughter James…well I hope you now understand the significance behind her name. It had nothing to do with them trying to be different or being bad parents. She will never know her grandfather but she will always have her grandfather with her wherever she goes.

    • Jayna says:

      Not me. I love Ryan and watch most of his movies.

      Blake is a sweetheart and I think they make a great couple.

    • SofiaS says:

      OMG, this answer is everything! I make your words mine if you don’t mind. Love Ryan, Love Blake!

  11. AG-UK says:

    His late remark is exactly what I say

  12. holly hobby says:

    I totally agree with his philosophy about time management. If I make it a point to show up 15 minutes early, at least show up on time. Nothing bums you out than to wait and wait and wait.

    This was a fun interview. I laughed out loud in several of his comments.

    • Tiffany says:

      If I have an appointment or have to meet someone, I always schedule it 15 minutes early in case something were to happen. I am one of those people.

      I know people who think having 15 minutes to be somewhere is plenty of time and that just drives me up the wall.

  13. Sam says:

    PS I totally agree that ever since he’s married Blake Lively, he’s been different…in a good way. I feel like when he was with Scarlett he was always uptight and insecure but with Blake he’s just not. Blake is a much better match for him.

  14. I Choose Me says:

    I like Ryan and he’s the perfect person to play Deadpool. He’s always had terrific comedic timing and is a great, understated dramatic actor. The Nines and Buried come to mind. Anyways, I’m champing at the bit waiting for Deadpool movie to premiere.

  15. Jen43 says:

    I have never seen him in anything good, and yet I like him. I hope the Ryan he presents to us is the real guy and not some publicist’s idea.

    • Prince Valiant says:

      I suggest watching Mississippi Grind and The Voices. He is absolutely sublime in them, especially The Voices. Such an original film. He is very, very good also in The Captive.

  16. Sarah01 says:

    Hate hate it when people are late and then use traffic as an excuse, I know there is traffic that’s why I leave earlier to ensure I get there on time. I’m always punctual I plan ahead to make sure I am why can’t others be considerate. I do have the 2 chance rule that if you are late twice then I’ll back off completely. Or if some service is taking way too long I won’t be a patron anymore. Because the message is we don’t value you or your time.

  17. Potato says:

    Up until about five years ago I found him annoying in films and not very good. Then he started really maturing as an actor. Woman in Gold, Buried, that action film with Denzel Washington. While Deadpool is def not my cup of tea, I enjoy seeing him in films. He’s a very good actor these days.

    • Sam says:

      I suggest watching Mississippi Grind and The Voices…they came out this past year and he was really good in them.