Ryan Reynolds Recalls Near-Fatal Accident That Left Him Hospitalized for a Month
By Alexus Mosley
Mark Ralston for AFP/Getty Images
Ryan Reynolds is opening up about a terrifying chapter from his teenage years. During a recent conversation with Welcome to Wrexham co-star Rob McElhenney, the actor revealed that he spent four weeks in the hospital after being struck by a drunk driver at age 18. The accident occurred just moments after Reynolds made the decision not to get behind the wheel himself, turning what he described as a responsible choice into a life-altering ordeal.
“When I was 18, I left a bar and I’d had a beer,” Reynolds shared during a June 9 video for GQ. “I walked back and I looked at my car for a second. I thought, ‘You know what, I’m not going to drive anywhere. Even if it’s four blocks home, absolutely not.’”
Although Reynolds made what he called a “firmly positive and wise decision,” tragedy struck shortly afterward.
“Instead, I turned around, started to cross the street,” he recalled, “and I was run over by a drunk driver.”
The impact was devastating. According to Reynolds, he suffered extensive injuries and spent weeks recovering in the hospital. “I broke every bone in my left side,” he said. “He hit me so hard, his car was not operational.”
The Deadpool star has previously spoken about the accident and the difficult recovery that followed. In a 2011 interview with CTV News, Reynolds revealed that he was unconscious for several days after the incident. “I woke up three days later,” he said, recalling how his late father, James Reynolds, was sitting beside his hospital bed holding a vomit tray.
In true Ryan Reynolds fashion, the actor even found humor in the painful memory. “I guess I had been heaving in my unconscious,” he said at the time. “And nothing says love like painting someone with three-day-old Gin Rummies. Just soaked the man head to toe in my vomit.”
While Reynolds has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, the accident left a lasting impact on his body. “I’ve been a rickety, broken mess,” he previously admitted.
Despite the injuries, Reynolds has continued to embrace physically demanding roles throughout his career, often performing many of his own stunts. Speaking to Variety in 2022, the actor explained that he enjoys the physical aspect of filmmaking but has become more cautious with age. “I really like physicality in movies,” Reynolds said. “I think it’s important to do as much of it yourself as you can. But I’ll step aside when there’s something that’s just too gnarly, and there’s a trained professional ready to go.”
As for getting older, Reynolds joked that his body simply doesn’t recover the way it once did. “You’re not allowed to eat Advil like cereal,” he quipped. “Things start to hurt. After I turned 35, being thrown onto cement wasn’t hilarious anymore. It had been upgraded to hell.”
Looking back, Reynolds’ story serves as a sobering reminder that life can change in an instant. Even after making the responsible decision not to drive, the actor found himself facing a near-fatal accident that would leave him hospitalized for a month and recovering for years to come.