Who is Ryan Reynolds Wife that he thanks in speech after speech? She’s Blake Lively, and their story starts on a film set he still jokes about. Fourteen years after their wedding, they’re among Hollywood’s most closely watched and successful couples.
In brief: Ryan Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, is an actress and entrepreneur born August 25, 1987, in Los Angeles. They met in 2010 while filming Green Lantern. They married on September 9, 2012, in South Carolina. They have four children: James, Inez, Betty, and Olin. Reynolds was married once before, to Scarlett Johansson. As of October 2026, they remain happily married.
ryan reynolds wife Blake Lively: Who She Is
Blake Ellender Brown was born in Tarzana, a Los Angeles neighborhood. Her mother, Elaine, worked as a talent scout, and her father, Ernie Lively, is an actor and director.
Acting ran in the family. She made her professional debut in her father’s film Sandman in 1998. Fame arrived with Gossip Girl, where she played Serena van der Woodsen on the CW series from 2007 to 2012. Film roles followed, including The Town, Green Lantern, The Age of Adaline, The Shallows, and A Simple Favor.
In 2024, she produced and starred in the box-office hit It Ends With Us. The film’s release sparked a massive behind-the-scenes PR controversy, which is detailed below.
Ryan Reynolds Biography: The Man Blake Married
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976, in Vancouver. He turned 50 in October 2026.
He’s the youngest of four brothers. His older brothers are Jeff, Patrick, and Terry. His parents, Tammy and James “Jim” Chester Reynolds, raised them in Vancouver. His father was a former police officer who became a food wholesaler. Reynolds once said, “My dad was a tough guy,” and links his own anxiety to that strict upbringing.
James was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when Ryan was 22. He died on October 25, 2015, at age 74. In April 2024, Reynolds wrote a TIME essay crediting Michael J. Fox with helping his father feel less alone.
Reynolds started acting as a teenager on the Canadian soap Hillside in 1991. Then came Two Guys and a Girl (1998–2001), Van Wilder (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004). People named him Sexiest Man Alive in 2010.
Green Lantern (2011) cost about $200 million and flopped, but Deadpool changed everything. He pushed for years to make an R-rated solo film. It opened in 2016 and earned $782 million worldwide. Deadpool & Wolverine passed $1.3 billion in 2024.
The money followed the brands he built. He bought a stake in Aviation Gin (sold to Diageo in 2020) and Mint Mobile (bought by T-Mobile in 2023 for $1.35 billion). In 2023, he also joined the investment group that bought a stake in the Alpine Formula 1 racing team. Alongside Rob McElhenney, he bought Wrexham AFC in 2021. Our Ryan Reynolds net worth article] puts his fortune at $350–400 million.
ryan reynolds wife Before Blake: Alanis Morissette and Scarlett Johansson
Reynolds had two high-profile relationships before Lively. The first was with Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. They were fiancés from 2004 to 2007 and never married.
In June 2008, Newsweek asked Morissette about her ex’s plans to marry. She laughed and said, “I’m really happy for him.”
Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson began dating in spring 2007. They became fiancés in May 2008. They married that September in a private ceremony at a retreat in British Columbia.
In December 2010, the couple announced a split. Johansson filed for divorce about a week later, citing irreconcilable differences. Reynolds’s divorce wasn’t finalized yet in June 2011. Reports cite both 2010 and 2011 because the split came in one year and the final decree in the next.
How They’ve Described Meeting and Falling for Each Other
Lively and Reynolds met in summer 2010, when both won lead roles in Green Lantern. The timing was awkward. Reynolds was married to Johansson, and Lively was dating her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley.
Neither has described love at first sight. On the SmartLess podcast in July 2021, Reynolds said they were first “friends and buddies.” He said they went on a double date about a year and a half later, each with someone else. He also said he made the first move.
Lively counts a longer clock. She has said they were “friends for two years before we were ever dating.” She added that she treats him like a girlfriend.
After that, things moved quickly. They walked their first red carpet together at the Green Lantern premiere on June 15, 2011. They were seen holding hands in Vancouver that December.
The proposal stayed private. No engagement announcement was ever made. One magazine estimated the ring at 12 carats and said Reynolds proposed before their first anniversary as a couple.
What This Relationship Means to Them, In Their Own Words
Reynolds rarely gets sentimental on camera. So the serious quotes stand out.
At the 2017 Met Gala, he spoke to Humans of New York. He said, “She always responds with empathy.” He said she meets anger with that same empathy. He also said she’d made him more empathetic.
He tied that quality to his father. He said Lively’s empathy helped repair his damaged relationship with his late father. He told GQ in 2016, “She has a gift for foresight.”
His parenting jokes land lighter. In early 2015, new dad Reynolds told David Letterman he’d use his wife as a “human shield” to protect their baby. He joked that he handled diapers while Lively was “breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
At his Walk of Fame ceremony in December 2016, he turned to her. He told Lively, “You make everything better.”
In 2026, the tone turned serious. In an April interview with Today, he said, “I have never in my life been more proud of my wife.” On Mother’s Day, May 10, he posted to Instagram Stories: “She is kind. She is fearless.”
Both have long been described as quiet about their private life. So these public lines are the clearest record of how Reynolds sees the marriage.
What Reporters Found That Wasn’t in the Interview
Interviews give a warm picture. Reporters added details the couple hadn’t shared.
First, the timeline. Reynolds recalls a double date about 18 months after the set. Lively counts two years of friendship. Reporters place their first couple moments in 2011. The accounts differ by months, not years.
Second, the wedding. News broke after a radio station tweeted about it and signs went up at the venue. Their reps hadn’t confirmed it at that point. People reported that Florence Welch sang three songs. E! News reported that Bette Midler also performed.
Guest counts vary too. CBS cited about 70 guests. A later profile in WHO said 35 attended. Treat both numbers as estimates.
The Boone Hall Wedding and the Apology
Lively and Reynolds married on September 9, 2012, at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The reception took place in a white tent. Neither announced the wedding.
Boone Hall is a former plantation, and the choice drew backlash years later. In 2020, the couple apologized. Reynolds said they’d always be “deeply and unreservedly sorry.” They added that they later married again at home.
ryan reynolds wife and Kids: Inside Their Family Life
Lively and Reynolds have four children: James, Inez, Betty and Olin. James arrived in December 2014, and Inez followed in September 2016. Betty was born in 2019.
Reynolds named his first daughter after his late father. James Sr. met his granddaughter shortly before he died.
Lively shared in February 2023 that they’d quietly welcomed a fourth baby. Reynolds let the name Olin slip at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere on July 22, 2024.
Back in 2021, Reynolds joked he’d been “quietly terrified it was gonna be a boy” before Betty’s birth. A son joined the family in 2023. Taylor Swift also used the names James, Inez and Betty on her album Folklore.
The couple guard their children’s privacy. They gave the public a first look at their first two daughters at his Walk of Fame ceremony in December 2016. Years later, Reynolds said the best part of his day is walking the kids to school.
The family is based in New York. Our net worth article covers their [INTERNAL LINK: New York property holdings → Ryan Reynolds net worth, real estate section].
ryan reynolds wife in 2026: Lawsuit, Settlement and Status
Lively’s legal dispute over It Ends With Us kept the couple in the news. In December 2024, she filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. She alleged that co-star and director Justin Baldoni sexually harassed her on set. Baldoni denied all her allegations.
Baldoni then filed a $400 million suit against Lively, Reynolds and others. A judge dismissed that countersuit on June 9, 2025. Reynolds’s spokesperson said he got involved because of “what husband wouldn’t support his wife.” Baldoni has denied the claims against him.
A trial was set for May 18, 2026. Lively had put Reynolds on her witness list. On May 4, 2026, she and Baldoni settled before trial.
Variety reported that Lively received no money in the settlement. Reynolds’s Mother’s Day post came six days later.
In October 2026, more court filings were unsealed. Some messages showed Reynolds urging his representatives to defend Lively. One message from a third party credited him with pressure on Sony. The report notes that message alone doesn’t establish that he did.
Some gossip pieces now cite unnamed insiders about marital strain. Neither Lively nor Reynolds has confirmed those claims. We don’t treat unnamed-source claims as fact. We found no public record of a change in their marital status.
Covers her business ventures
Beyond acting, Lively is a savvy entrepreneur. In 2014, she launched a lifestyle website called Preserve, though it closed a year later. She found massive success later with Betty Buzz (a line of non-alcoholic mixers launched in 2021) and Blake Brown Beauty (a highly successful haircare brand launched in Target in 2024).
ryan reynolds wife Timeline: Key Dates
- Summer 2010: Both are cast in Green Lantern and meet.
- June 15, 2011: They walk their first red carpet together.
- December 2011: Reports place them holding hands in Vancouver.
- September 9, 2012: They marry at Boone Hall Plantation.
- December 2014: Their first daughter, James, is born.
- September 2016: Inez is born.
- 2019: Betty is born.
- February 2023: Lively shares news of their fourth baby.
- December 2024: Lively files her complaint against Baldoni.
- May 4, 2026: Lively and Baldoni settle.
- September 9, 2026: The couple’s 14th wedding anniversary.
The Bottom Line on the ryan reynolds wife Story
The Ryan Reynolds wife story isn’t a tidy fairy tale. It includes a first marriage that ended, a venue the couple later apologized for, and a long public legal fight.
Still, the record points one way. Reynolds keeps naming Lively as the person who changed him, from the 2017 empathy quote to the May 2026 post. At 50, with a fortune we put at $350–400 million, he’s still saying so in public.
More on This Topic: Ryan Reynolds Net Worth: How Aviation Gin Made Him Richer Than Deadpool Ever Could
FAQ: Ryan Reynolds Wife
Who is the Ryan Reynolds wife?
She’s Blake Lively, an American actress born August 25, 1987. She’s best known for Gossip Girl, The Age of Adaline, A Simple Favor and It Ends With Us.
When did Ryan Reynolds marry Blake Lively?
They married on September 9, 2012, at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Their 14th anniversary passed on September 9, 2026.
Was Ryan Reynolds married before?
Yes. He married Scarlett Johansson in September 2008. They announced a split in December 2010, and the divorce was finalized in 2011. He was also a fiancé of Alanis Morissette from 2004 to 2007, but they never married.
How many children does the Ryan Reynolds wife have with him?
Blake Lively and Reynolds have four: daughters James, Inez and Betty, and a son, Olin. Reynolds named James after his late father.
Are Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively still together in 2026?
Publicly, yes. Reynolds paid her a Mother’s Day tribute in May 2026. Unnamed-source reports of strain remain unconfirmed by either of them.
Why did Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively apologize for their wedding venue?
Boone Hall is a former plantation, and the choice drew backlash. In 2020, they said they’d always be deeply sorry. They said they later married again at home.
Disclaimer: All information in this article is compiled from publicly available news reports, interviews and official records. It does not represent verified statements made directly by the individuals mentioned.
Sources: CBC News, “Ryan Reynolds marries Blake Lively” (2012). Extra, “Ryan Reynolds raves about Blake Lively” (April 20, 2026). Marie Claire UK, Mother’s Day tribute (May 2026). Also drawn on: Insider, Grazia, CBS News, Hello!, Stylist, Good Morning America, E! News, People (via syndication), Variety, Wikipedia (Blake Lively).
