10 things you probably didn't know about Ryan Reynolds
Marilyn La Jeunesse
Ryan Reynolds has been acting for decades.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Ryan Reynolds has been acting for decades, but he's especially well-known for playing the Marvel antihero Deadpool.
He said filming "Green Lantern" helped him get over his fear of flying.
Reynolds was once named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."
Ryan Reynolds has been acting for decades and even though he's been in the public eye for quite some time, there's a lot you may not know about the "Deadpool" actor.
Here are some interesting things you never knew about Ryan Reynolds.
Ryan Reynolds in 2011's "Green Lantern" movie.
Reynolds' fear of flying stemmed from a bad skydiving experience when he was a teenager, where his first pack didn't deploy and sent him free-falling through the air.
Years later, he spoke about getting over that fear by filming 2011's "Green Lantern."
"I have problems with airplanes," Reynolds told Ann Curry on "The Today Show" in 2011. "On the film, we were up on high-wires flying all the time, all over the place ... It was really interesting and really terrifying at first."
Ultimately, Reynolds said the thought of his younger nephews and nieces helped him get past his fear.
"I don't mean to make it sound too altruistic, but my nieces and nephews were just so excited about this movie and I kept thinking about them getting to come see this film," said Reynolds. "You kind of get over all that crap... After the 17th, 18th time of doing it, you say, 'Hey, this is actually a little bit of fun.'"
He met his wife Blake Lively on the set of "Green Lantern."
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are often seen supporting each other at their movie premieres.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Despite Reynolds' public displeasure at the film "Green Lantern," it turns out starring in the superhero movie wasn't all bad.
After all, he met his future wife, Blake Lively, while filming it.
Lively played Reynolds' love interest, Carol Ferris. According to Lively, the two started dating in 2011 a year after working together and becoming good friends. They got married in 2012 and now have three children.
Read more: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been together for years. Here's a timeline of their relationship.
Reynolds once failed drama class.
Ryan Reynolds at the premiere of "Detective Pikachu."
Michael Stewart/FilmMagic
Per Vulture, Reynolds once failed his high-school drama course. His pal Hugh Jackman poked fun at him for it in 2016 when Reynolds received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Alanis Morissette wrote a song about him.
Alanis Morisette was one of nine women Reynolds dated before marrying Blake Lively.
Before his marriage to Blake Lively, Reynolds dated singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette. The two eventually got engaged, but in 2007, the couple called it quits.
In 2008, Alanis revealed her song "Torch" was written post-breakup about Reynolds.
"It was cathartic," Morisette told Access Online. "Someone said very wisely to me the other day that catharsis doesn't mean healing necessarily and I thought, 'Damn! It's true.'"
Read more: 9 people Ryan Reynolds dated before he met wife Blake Lively
Reynolds has wanted to play Kid Flash for years.
Here's Kid Flash on the CW show "The Flash."
He's already played a few high-flying characters on screen, but Reynolds has his sights on another superhero: Kid Flash.
The actor says he wanted to play the Wally West version of the hero, Kid Flash. He's reportedly almost played the character twice, but it's fallen through both times.
He said he turned down the role of Xander Harris on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Xander Harris was played by Nicholas Brendon.
Warner Bros. TV
The now-famous vampire-slaying show could have had Reynolds in the role of nerdy pal Xander Harris.
But Reynolds said he turned down the role because he didn't want to play a high schooler.
"I love that show and I loved Joss Whedon, the creator of the show, but my biggest concern was that I didn't want to play a guy in high school," Reynolds told The Star. "I had just come out of high school and it was f---ing awful."
He was once People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."
The cover of the People that featured Ryan Reynolds.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images / People
People magazine named Reynolds the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2010. Little did he know that in 2016, People would also name him the "Sexiest Dad Alive."
Reynolds once gained 25 pounds for a movie.
Ryan Reynolds gained 25 pounds of muscle for "Blade Trinity" and kept it on for "Green Lantern."
Donald Weber, Getty Images/New Line
Reynolds told Men's Fitness magazine that he gained 25 pounds of muscle for "Blade Trinity."
He said he was on a strict 3,200-calorie daily diet and performed six-day-a-week workouts for three months.
Read more: 16 actors who gained weight for movie roles
The "Deadpool" comics mention Ryan Reynolds by name.
Ryan Reynolds is referenced in "Cable & Deadpool" No. 2.
In 2004's "Cable & Deadpool" No. 2, Deadpool says he looks like Ryan Reynolds crossed with shar-pei. The comic spelled Reynolds as "Renolds."
Reynolds told Latino Review he was aware of the comic reference in 2009.
"I remember reading one of the 'Deadpool' comic books, and somebody asked Deadpool what he looks like," said Reynolds. "And I was like, I really, really wanna play this guy at some point. I thought it was pretty cool. It's a guy that knows he's in a comic book. How hard is it to shoot that properly? That's not something they put in Wolverine nor would it belong in that universe."
But it probably wasn't the initial inspiration for Reynolds in the role.
Two months before the comic was released, producer and screenwriter David S. Goyer told IGN he wanted to work with Reynolds on something after "Blade: Trinity." "Deadpool" was one of the possible ideas they tossed around.
Reynolds once appeared in the TV movie "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
Ryan Reynolds had an earring in the "Sabrina" TV movie.
Reynolds acted in the 1996 "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" TV movie that served as a pilot of sorts for the later TV series.
He played Seth, Sabrina's crush at the time who wasn't as decent as she hoped he'd be.
Reynolds and Melissa Joan Hart also dated for a brief period of time that same year.
SEE ALSO: A timeline of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' relationship
FOLLOW US: Entertainment INSIDER is on Facebook
More: Freelancer Ryan Reynolds Features Celebrities