Ryan Reynolds Reveals Drunk Driver ‘Broke Every Bone’ on His Left Side at 18

Long before Ryan Reynolds was a Hollywood franchise superhero, he was a teenager in Vancouver who made a responsible decision that nearly cost him his life.

Reynolds, 49, opened up about a harrowing incident from his youth during a candid interview with GQ released on Tuesday, June 9, alongside his Wrexham A.F.C. co-owner Rob McElhenney. The pair were tasked with assembling IKEA furniture during the conversation when Reynolds shared a shocking fact:

“I got run over by a drunk driver after making a firmly positive and wise decision for a young 18-year-old male,” Reynolds said. “Spent four weeks in the hospital.”

The Deadpool star explained that the night of the crash, he had been out at a bar in his hometown but chose to leave his car behind rather than drive after drinking — a call that, by any reasonable measure, was the right one. Tragically, crossing the street on foot didn’t keep him safe. An allegedly intoxicated driver slammed into him at full force.

“[I] broke every bone in my left side,” Reynolds said. McElhenney replied: “That’s the first time I’ve heard that!”

“He hit me so hard, his car was not operational,” Reynolds explained. Despite the gravity of the moment, the actor handled it with characteristic humor, pivoting to give an unlikely shoutout.

“I’d like to thank Dr. Meek at the General Hospital for putting me back together so kindly,” he said. “Socialized medicine, he couldn’t say no.”

The accident took place during a period when Reynolds had already made his first tentative steps into acting, having appeared on the teen drama Fifteen — and the Canadian TV fantasy series The Odyssey.

Of course, Reynolds has come a long way since those days. He married actress Blake Lively in 2012 and the pair have built a family of six. The couple share four children: daughters James, 11, Inez, 9, and Betty, 6, as well as son Olin, 3, who arrived in early 2023.