A few months ago, Ryan Reynolds announced he was going to take a "little sabbatical from movie making" when he finished production on Spirited, a new adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol in which he plays Ebenezer Scrooge.
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He's since opened up in a new interview with LinkedIn and revealed his primary motivation for taking time away from the film business: He wants to spend more time with his daughters James, 6, Inez, 6, and Betty, 2, who he shares with actress and wife Blake Lively.
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"The biggest thing for me, and I know you have kids as well, is that I don't want to miss time with my kids," the devoted dad shared, adding the amount of time he spends making movies makes it hard to see them sometimes.
"When I'm shooting a film, I'm oftentimes in Europe, I'm away, there are incredibly long hours, it's a ton of constant, kind of requirement to be there the whole time – not just because I'm performing, but I'm also generally producing and writing on my movies as well," he elaborated.
Ryan and Blake with daughters James and Inez at Ryan's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2016. Photo: © Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
In addition to his acting career, Ryan is the co-founder of creative agency Maximum Effort and is the Chief Creative Officer for MNTN, which owns the former. He said in addition to spending more time with his daughters, he'll be spending his sabbatical focusing on those business efforts.
"They tend to chew and blow bubbles with every aspect of my life when I'm shooting a film," Ryan said about his time on sets. "So allowing myself to step away right away, it's sort of the perfect time. Not just for my family, but for MNTN and for Maximum Effort, to juts kind of focus on those for a little while."
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The 45-year-old went on to add that he wants James, Inez and Betty to have "a pretty normal schedule" and that shooting movies meant that Blake would often take care of them while he was away, and they'd "sort of trade off" duties when she was making a film.
"Now that they're in school, they have a somewhat normal schedule," he added. "I think it's totally important for their development and I really enjoy being a present dad. I love taking them to school in the morning, I love picking them up. I love that I have the hours in between to focus on the things that I'm really passionate about like MNTN and Maximum Effort. It is a juggling act."
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Last week, Ryan was honoured with a Governor General's Award, which was presented to him by Canadian music legend Steven Page, known for his work with the Barenaked Ladies. He was fêted for the philanthropy he's done in recent years, including work with Indigenous organizations and much more. Steven presented the award to him with a hilarious song he'd written just for the occasion, "Canada Loves You Back." Ryan appeared via video link to watch and seemed very touched – and was even a bit teary at the end!
"I'm glad I don't have to be dead to experience something like this," he tweeted while sharing the video. "I'm so beyond touched right now. I recommend making a list of people you appreciate, then immediately telling them. You don't even have to write this list with the blood of your enemies. Just a regular pen works."
