Ryan Reynolds

With his unusual flair for comedy, Ryan Rodney Reynolds unmistakably has surpassed other aspiring fellows of his generation to be one of the most potential Canadian actors in Hollywood film industry. The youngest of four children who was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he has been attracted to acting from an early age, looking from his enthusiasm to join a drama class at his school. By the age of 13, this son of Jim and Tammy Reynolds had already developed his acting career as he headed for Florida, U.S. to join the regular cast of Nickelodeon's TV series, "Hillside", or "Fifteen" in the U.S. version. Aired in 1990, this show actually garnered fair attention but could not live long enough as it finally came to its end in 1993 and so, failed to bring any significance to the boy's early career.

Upon his return to his hometown following the unsuccessful venture, Ryan attended Kwantlen College for a brief time before later decided to put full concentration on pursuing his goal. Involved in the Canada productions of "The Odyssey" (1992-1994) and "Ordinary Magic" (1993), he realized that the only way to flourish his career was by penetrating Hollywood film industry. Accompanied by fellow aspiring actor, Chris Martin, he then quickly headed for L.A. even before he turned 20 years old. In this cosmopolitan city, he wonderfully managed to obtain some roles, mostly in small screen productions, such as "My Name is Kate" (1994), "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (1996-2003), and "In Cold Blood" (1996).

His star started to display its brilliant shine when he was selected to portray an aimless graduate student named Berg who worked at Boston's Beacon St. Pizza parlor in ABC's sitcom, "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (1998-2001). Warmly received, this comedy series not only brought Ryan to wider public attention, but also served as a great vehicle for him to grow his status. Becoming busier, he determinedly chose to get involved in big screen productions, among others "Coming Soon" (1999), "We All Fall Down" (2000), "Finder's Fee" (2001), and "Buying the Cow" (2002). It was his performance in the latter movie that finally caught the attention of Artisan Studios, which thus offered him the title role in "Van Wilder" (2002).

A National Lampoon movie, "Van Wilder" wonderfully made its way to score well as it collected more than 21 million U.S. dollars during its run in domestic market despite being an independent feature. The flick's success boosted Ryan's career for sure, leading him to be included in the list of the young rising actors of that year. Already noticed as a bright comedic performer from the time he took part in "The In-Laws" (2003) alongside Michael Douglas, the hunk surprisingly made a turn to action genre when he joined the cast of "Blade: Trinity" (2004), teaming up with Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel to fight against vampires wanting to throw down humans and taking over the world. Still exploring characters, he next earned the lead role in Andrew Douglas-directed "The Amityville Horror", a remake of the 1979 horror film of the same name.

Released on April 15, 2005, "Amityville" amazingly hit the box office with total gross of over $103 million, enhancing Ryan's popularity in the industry while also unmistakably driving him to receive many offers of film projects. Back to comedies through "Waiting..." and "Just Friends" in the same year followed by a stint in thriller action "Smokin' Aces" (2007), he kept sticking to the former genre throughout the rest of 2000s, appearing in titles like "Definitely, Maybe" (2008), "Adventureland" (2008), and "The Proposal" (2009) though he did take a dramatic role in star-studded "Fireflies in the Garden" (2008) alongside Julia Roberts, Willem Dafoe, and Hayden Panettiere, among others.

Apart from his professional career, Ryan was long known to be the fiance of famous Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. Previously dated actress Rachael Leigh Cook in 2001 for one year, he met this talented artist in the year of 2002 during the birthday party of fellow Hollywood star Drew Barrymore's birthday bash. After dating each other for some months, the couple happily announced their engagement on June 3, 2004 yet shockingly decided to end it for good three years later by releasing a joint statement through their representatives in February 2007, saying they "have mutually decided to end their engagement." Though so, they still remain close friends and continue to have the utmost love and admiration for each other. Following the break-up, Ryan was linked to her "Blade: Trinity" co-star Jessica Biel for one time, but ultimately was found romancing movie beauty Scarlett Johansson later that year, even receiving from her a necklace with her gold-dipped wisdom teeth strung on it for his 31st birthday gift.