Ryan Reynolds recently reflected on the drunk-driving accident that landed him in the hospital. The incident happened more than 30 years ago, leaving the Deadpool star with significant injuries. It occurred while he was still just a teenager, long before fame entered the picture.
What Ryan Reynolds said about surviving a ‘drunk driver’ crash
Ryan Reynolds revisited the memory of surviving a drunk driver crash, the serious injuries he sustained, and the long road to recovery.
In a GQ interview with Rob Mac released on Tuesday, June 9, the Mayday star walked through a difficult memory from his past that still lingers.
“I got run over by a drunk driver after making a firmly positive and wise decision for a young, 18-year-old male. Spent four weeks in the hospital,” Reynolds said. Hearing that, his Wrexham AFC co-owner and longtime friend reacted with surprise, noting that the detail was new to him.
“Oh yeah, broke every bone in my left side,” the Free Guy star added. “He hit me so hard, his car was not operational.”
In a lighter moment, he credited Dr. Meek at the General Hospital for repairing him so kindly, joking that socialized medicine left the doctor no room to say no.
The accident took place in his Vancouver hometown. At that point, Ryan Reynolds had already appeared on a season of the teen drama Hillside, also known as Fifteen, and the fantasy series The Odyssey.
Previously, in a 2019 interview, Reynolds had shared that he was 19 when the crash happened, slipping the detail in during a short aside.
At 19 in Vancouver, where the drinking age was different, Reynolds had a couple of drinks and chose not to drive home. He walked instead. Partway through the walk, a drunk driver struck him. He described the moment as a cruel twist of fate, joking darkly about karma.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney met via Instagram DM in 2020 and bonded over buying Wrexham AFC. Their friendship is now a personal and business partnership, shown on Welcome to Wrexham.
