Ryan Reynolds Opens Up About His Anxiety And How Blake Lively Helped Him Through It

When your only interaction with celebrities is through a screen, they are these flawless figures. Ones that are too good for any of the real-life struggles we deal with on a daily basis. Celebrities don’t get stuck in traffic, didn’t you know?

But, when you’re given the chance to interview them, as one Variety reporter was, you learn that, in a lot of ways, they’re just like the rest of us. Except for the traffic thing. They definitely don’t experience rush hour.

Ramin Setooduh from Variety sat down with Ryan Reynolds and learned some major truths about his life. Ones that you’d never guess by watching him on the big screen.

According to Reynolds, there are a lot of ways that acting in “Deadpool” saved him, but the process was also a tough one, especially for someone who’s battled anxiety throughout his life.

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“When ‘Deadpool’ came along it was a great relief — it was a role I felt we could get right,” he told Variety.

And boy was he right about that. The film performed extremely well in the box office, earning over $745 million, according to Forbes. Due to the tremendous success, Reynolds has already signed on to act in the sequel.

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But nailing this role wasn’t easy for Reynolds. It was something he did not take lightly.

“I’d write 10 more jokes,” Reynolds tells Variety of his time perfecting the script. “I never, ever slept. Or I was sleeping at a perfect right angle — just sitting straight, constantly working at the same time.”

So, the acting was one thing, but waiting for the reviews was another.

“By the time we were in post, we’d been to Comic-Con, and people went crazy for it. The expectations were eating me alive,” he said. “Blake helped me through that. I’m lucky to have her around just to keep me sane.”

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Reynolds said he grew up suffering from anxiety, so that which he felt during “Deadpool” was nothing new to him.

“Our father was tough. He wasn’t easy on anyone. And he wasn’t easy on himself. I think the anxiety might have started there, trying 
to find ways to control others by trying to control myself. At the time, I never recognized that. I was just a twitchy kid,” he told Variety.

From twitchy kid to “Deadpool” super star (and hopefully Golden Globe winner), Reynolds has really come a long way. And he couldn’t seem more human now, despite the whole star-status thing.

[h/t: Hello Giggles]