Ryan Reynolds Says He's 'Grateful' To Have Sent Late Father Final Letter For 'Closure'

 

Before the 2015 passing of his father, James Chester Reynolds, actor Ryan Reynolds wrote a letter that gave him “closure” on their rocky relationship.

The Deadpool & Wolverine star opened up to People about the letter, which he gave to his father before his death at 74 years old, as Reynolds lived with Parkinson’s disease for nearly two decades. The actor’s father had been a dedicated police officer throughout his childhood, creating a strict household dynamic for Reynolds and his three older brothers, Jeff, Terry and Patrick.

“At the time, I just thought my dad's just losing his mind,” Reynolds told People about his father’s hallucination and memory loss symptoms. “There would be conspiratorial webs that he would spin about ‘this is happening’ and that ‘these people might be after me’ or ‘this person is out to get me.’ And just stuff that was just so wildly, such a wild departure from the man that I grew up with and knew.”

But five months before his father’s death, Reynolds gave him a letter that “was basically a list of every amazing thing he ever did.”

Every time he showed up or every time he had a catch with me outside after baseball practice. Every time he just was there. And if the man couldn't express his emotions in a way that was dynamic, well, many people can't.”

He continues, “The guy was born in the '40s. It's okay. So I'm super grateful that I sent that letter. I know for a fact it meant the world to him, and it went back from my earliest memories to present day or as close to present day as possible. So I did get that closure, but I wasn't with him when he passed away, and I do wish I was.”

Reynolds, who’s a father to four children with actress Blake Lively–one of which, a daughter, is named after James–also spoke about their relationship being complicated, and shared regret about becoming estranged from his father.

“I think I could have done better at not resting on the storyline that I'd established between he and I,” he expressed. “And that I could have maybe been there with him toward the end and I wasn't. He and I just drifted apart, and that's something I'll live with forever.”