Even movie stars need breaks. Ryan Reynolds announced on Instagram in October that he was taking “a sabbatical from movie making” after completing filming on his upcoming holiday comedy Spirited, and he clarified his decision at Monday’s WSJ Magazine 2021 Innovator Awards. “I’m just trying to create a little bit more space for my family and time with them,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “You know, you don’t really get that time back.”
Reynolds and his wife, actress Blake Lively, have been married since 2012 and have three daughters: James, 6, Inez, 5, and Betty, 2. Reynolds has spoken a lot in the past about how much he loves being a “girl dad.”
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“I love being a girl dad,” he told Access Hollywood last year. “I have three daughters, which I never in a million years would’ve imagined. I come from all boys. I have three older brothers — I’m the youngest of four boys, so for me to have three daughters has just been such a ride, and I love every second of it.”
“I try to be as present as possible,” the Free Guy star continued. We don’t split up — like I shoot movies and my wife shoots movies, and we go travel all over the place and we just all go together. I think that’s been the best part of it is that we really don’t spend a lot of time apart. I get to spend a lot of time with my girls.”
Spirited comes out next year on Apple TV+ and co-stars Will Ferrell. “That’s a wrap for me on Spirited. Not sure I’d have been ready to say yes to a film this challenging even three years ago,” Reynolds wrote on Instagram. Singing, dancing and playing in the sandbox with Will Ferrell made a whole lotta dreams come true. And this is my second film with the great [Octavia Spencer]. Perfect time for a little sabbatical from movie making. I’m gonna miss every second working with this obscenely gifted group of creators and artists. These days, kindness matters as much as talent. I’ve been lucky to work with folks who are flush with both.”
Reynolds will next be seen in Red Notice on Netflix and in The Adam Project alongside Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo next year. It’s unclear how long Reynolds’ sabbatical will be, but the actor still has a number of projects in development.