Ryan Reynolds Proudly Shares His Kids with Blake Lively Hold Dual Citizenship
|Ryan Reynolds’ kids are proud American-Canadians.
Speaking with Hugh Jackman, 55, for this week’s cover story, which marks PEOPLE’s first-ever collectible side-by-side covers featuring the Deadpool & Wolverine stars, the dad of four, 47, shared with PEOPLE that his children hold passports for both the United States and Canada.
Joking about their Commonwealth connection, the Australian-born Jackman asked Reynolds if his kids identify as part Canadian.
“It was a really important thing for us that we spent time in Australia…[and] they felt part Australian, and I’m really proud of that,” Jackman says of his kids, Oscar, 24, and Ava, 19.
“I think if you ask them, they’ll say, ‘I’m Australian.’ And they’ll say, ‘No, I’m American too, but I’m Australian.’ How are you with the kids? Is that something for you?” Jackman asks.
“My kids, they have Canadian passports as well, and they feel a real connection to that,” Reynolds answers. “It’s a point of pride of theirs. They’ve also spent huge amounts of their formative years in Canada and particularly Vancouver.”
Noting that he shot the first two Deadpool films in Vancouver, Reynolds jokes, “I had only one child in Deadpool 1 and I had two on Deadpool 2 but hopefully we don’t do a Deadpool 8 because I don’t want eight kids.”
But more seriously, he adds, “They love being from Canada. They tell people they are. ‘Oh, I’m half Canadian, half American.’”
Reynolds is dad to four kids — Betty, 4, Ines, 7, and James, 9, and a one-year-old (whose name has not been revealed) — with wife Blake Lively, 36.
In April, Reynolds wrote a tribute to Michael J. Fox for TIME as the fellow Canada-born actor was included in the magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People, sharing that he’s been able to use Fox’s work to teach a few life lessons to his older daughter James.
“Last year I watched Back to the Future with my 8-year-old daughter. It’s become her favorite film,” Reynolds wrote. “And for now, that’s enough for me — and for her. One more kid from one more generation sees what I saw.”
“I know how lucky I am to call Mike a friend. She still has no idea I know him. I don’t need to teach my daughter the level of compassion Mike has mastered. Or teach her to tell stories the way Mike tells stories.”
“I need to teach her that it’s OK to fall a lot. It’s the absolute best way to know you’re flying,” the dad of four added.