Ryan Reynolds addresses the ‘luxury’ of his kids’ upbringing after he and wife Blake Lively grew up ‘working class’
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s children are growing up differently than their parents.
The “Deadpool” actor — who shares four kids with his wife — said that he aims to give them “as normal a life as possible,” but he also acknowledges their privileged upbringing.
“I try not to impose upon them the difference in their childhood to my childhood or my wife’s childhood,” Reynolds told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Friday.
“We both grew up very working class, and I remember when they were very young, I used to say or think, like, ‘Oh God, I would never have had a gift like this when I was a kid,’ or, ‘I never would’ve had this luxury of getting takeout,’ or whatever.”
However, the “Proposal” star, 48, eventually came to the conclusion that his children don’t need to have that burden because of their parents’ success.
“I realized that that’s not really their bag of rocks to carry,” Reynolds explained of his four kids.
“They’re already very much in touch with gratitude and understanding the world enough to have a strong sense of empathy.”
The actor — who wed Lively in 2012 — went on to say that their kids know how to “empathize” with others.
“Those are the things that I would think [would indicate] we’re doing an OK job — if our kids can empathize with other people and other kids,” he added.
“But yes, it’s different. When I was a kid, you would just suck it up, get out of the house and be back by sundown, which I just can’t even imagine now.”
Reynolds also addressed being a working father while appearing in a Variety’s “Actors on Actors” segment published on Dec. 9.
He explained that there was a six-year gap in between the last two “Deadpool” films because his demanding work schedule “swallows [his] whole life.”
“I don’t ever want to be absentee, and I don’t ever want to miss stuff,” Reynolds told Andrew Garfield of balancing his professional and family time.
“I kind of die inside when I see their face and they have a competition or they have a sports thing or something and I missed it.”
Reynolds and Lively, 37, welcomed their first daughter, James, now 9, two years after tying the knot.
The “Gossip Girl” alum then gave birth to their second daughter, Inez, in September 2016.
They welcomed their third daughter, Betty, in October 2019, followed by their son, Olin, who was born in February 2023.
