Wrexham face Cardiff City in a thrilling all-Welsh showdown in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, marking their first encounter in 21 years. The Red Dragons, currently positioned at 16th place in the Championship, have experienced an extraordinary ascent in recent years, leaping from non-league to the second tier of English football in just three seasons. This remarkable journey has been under the stewardship of Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who have significantly raised Wrexham’s profile.
Reynolds has become particularly associated with the club and city, leveraging his film star status, global appeal and substantial wealth to enhance Wrexham’s international brand. As his team takes on the Bluebirds, here’s everything you need to know about his life off the pitch, from his impressive net worth to high-profile relationships…
Acting career
Reynolds, one of four brothers, was born in Canada in October 1976 into an Irish Catholic family. He ventured into acting as a young teenager and achieved his breakthrough moment in 2002 at the age of 25.
He starred as the lead character in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, a film about a popular college student who fears graduation, and later took on roles in Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, and The Proposal, cementing his reputation as a romantic comedy actor.
Reynolds first took the lead in the superhero film Green Lantern in 2011, but it was his role in Deadpool in 2016 that catapulted him to Hollywood superstardom in the ‘action-comedy blockbuster’ genre.
The X-rated Marvel character film had a modest budget of just £47million but pulled in an impressive £633.9million with its thrilling action sequences and hilarious comedy captivating audiences on its premiere.
Two more Deadpool films have followed, both hugely successful, and Reynolds is set to return as Wade Wilson in the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday film, due for release in 2026.
Staggering net worth
Reynolds’ lucrative film contracts and various off-screen business ventures have amassed him a staggering net worth of over £300million.
For Deadpool and Wolverine alone, Reynolds pocketed £68m to produce, co-write and star in the spin-off film, and with further instalments in the pipeline, there’s more money on the table for the Canadian actor.
Beyond acting, Reynolds has been industriously building his fortune, purchasing a 20 per cent stake in Aviation Gin and transforming it into a globally-recognised brand. Five years ago, Diageo, one of the world’s leading alcoholic beverage companies, bought the company in a deal worth £486m.
Reynolds recently sold his share in Mint Mobile to T-Mobile, a deal that reportedly netted him a cool £243m, with the transaction itself valued at a staggering £1.09billion.
Meanwhile, McElhenney and Reynolds have invested a hefty £20million into Wrexham, but their investment has proven fruitful, raking in an additional £8m in television revenue alone from their Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham.
Divorce from Hollywood actress
Before his A-list marriage to Blake Lively, Reynolds experienced a high-profile split. Around the time he landed his breakthrough role in Van Wilder, Reynolds was romantically linked to singer Alanis Morissette.
The pair first crossed paths at Drew Barrymore’s birthday bash in 2002, leading to an engagement in 2004, only for the relationship to end three years later.
Following this, Reynolds began seeing Scarlett Johansson, one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. The couple tied the knot in September 2008, but their marriage ended in divorce in 2010 due to career pressures and limited time together.
Notably, there was a significant age difference between the two, with Reynolds in his early thirties and Johansson in her early twenties.
Rumours also circulated about Reynolds’ romantic involvement with other stars such as Sandra Bullock, Melissa Joan Hart, and Charlize Theron, before he met his future wife, Lively, on the set of Green Lantern.
The couple wed in 2012, a year after the film’s release. Reynolds and Lively, known for her role as Serena van der Woodsen in the hit series Gossip Girl, are now parents to four children.
The couple maintain a playful dynamic in their relationship, frequently teasing one another across social media platforms.