When Ryan Reynolds casually revealed that he and wife Blake Lively named their fourth child Olin, fans were clamoring for more information. After all, instead of making a birth announcement when Olin was born back in February 2023 (!!), the It Ends With Us star just shared a photo of her postpartum body and pretended it was all business as usual. But while the famously funny couple has been cheekily hinting about their child, Reynolds finally confirmed the baby is a boy — and he did it in an incredibly serious, heart-wrenching way.
The Deadpool & Wolverine star revealed the info an in interview with Walking 4 Hope cofounder John Bell, whose son Jake died in 2020 at 15. After Bell found himself in a “very dark place” with suicidal ideation, he started going on fundraising walks dressed as Deadpool — his son’s favorite Marvel character — and carrying a bathtub to represent the invisible “weight” or “burdens” that people carry when struggling with mental health. Now, he brings awareness to others struggling.
“Six months ago, I learned about John Bell,” Reynolds said in a video posted on Instagram. He shared the Nottingham, England, dad’s story, adding, “Deadpool is a character who’s in pain, and he fights through it. It just seemed right to give John the proper Hollywood Deadpool treatment.”
Bell wore his Deadpool costume and was made up with professional special effects makeup. He took pictures with Reynolds and sat down for an interview, where the actor asked him to tell him about his son. “He was just so funny, so comical,” Bell said. “We did everything together. He was my firstborn son. He was just, absolutely everything to me.”
Bell added that his fundraising walks “keep me alive daily.”
“I’ve made my peace with death,” he continued. “I’m gonna be reunited with him at some point. But it damn right ain’t now.”
Reynolds responded, “The resilience it takes to put one foot in front of the other as many times as you’ve done it and transmute that much grief into something powerfully useful. I’m very grateful that you shared his story.”
In the emotional interview, Reynolds decided to give Bell the highly anticipated reveal about his child: “I wanna share with you, that I too have a son and that, if … boy, John, if I love him one-tenth as much as you love Jake, I feel like I’ve done a pretty damn good job.”
Suddenly, it’s hard to even remember why we cared about learning the baby’s sex. All that matters is love and enjoying every minute with your kids because you truly never know when the last one will be. My heart is broken in two learning about Jake and his dad, and I think it’s beautiful that Reynolds used the release of his latest film to promote Bell’s story.
Bell shared pictures of him and Reynolds on the Walking 4 Hope Instagram page, writing, “Well, what can I say, This man right here, what a beautiful human, I am honoured @vancityreynolds made it public to the world that his 4th born child, is a boy, during our interview.”
“I didn’t realise how anxious I was until I first walked in that interview room, and Ryan welcomed me with open arms,” he continued. “Ryan using his platform to share my story and ask me about my boy meant so much to me personally, but what it will do for Walking 4 Hope-Charity Page to be able to support more people, I will forever be thankful. Congratulations, Ryan and #BlakeLively. You are truly beautiful souls.”
In addition to 1-year-old Olin, Reynolds and Lively are also parents to daughters James, 9, Inez, 7, and Betty, 4. At a screening for Deadpool & Wolverine, Reynolds thanked his family for coming out to support him.
“I want to start by saying thank you to my wife, Blake, who is here,” he said. “I want to thank my kids James, Inez, Betty, Olin, who are here. I hope that, if I’m lucky, this moment will be the most traumatic thing — that is, the contents of this movie — that happens in your wondrous life.” “I love that my entire family is here,” he added.
Reynolds may be a professional jokester, but his love for his family and other people shines brightly every time.
Before you go, check out Ryan Reynolds’ very best girl dad moments.
