WalesOnline takes a look back at Ryan Reynolds in his younger years after the Hollywood actor and Wrexham owner turned 50

Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds turned 50 last week, but still sports the same handsome facial features that helped make him a multi-millionaire movie star in the first place.

Since buying Wrexham in 2021 for £2million, Reynolds and fellow Hollywood A-lister Rob Mac have overseen the club’s stunning rise through the football pyramid. Three consecutive promotions catapulted the club from non-League into the Championship, and they came close to a shot at promotion to the Premier League last term.

This season has proven more difficult for the Red Dragons than they would have hoped, however, and Phil Parkinson’s side find themselves down in the bottom half of the table. They will look to turn that around when they take on Sheffield United away from home on Friday night.

Reynolds will no doubt be watching eagerly in the hope of sealing all three points to top off a landmark month in his personal life, having celebrated his 50th birthday on October 23. And a picture from his high school days circulating online in recent days shows he has enjoyed a significant glow-up thanks to his beard and more matured features.

The Deadpool star, who is married to actress Blake Lively, was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and began acting at the age of 13. He attended Kitsilano Secondary School in Vancouver alongside another actor, Joshua Jackson, and still keeps in contact with his school, having given a graduation speech for the 2020 class.

The black and white aforementioned photo shows Reynolds during his junior year at Kitsilano back in 1993, when he was around 16 years old. Reynolds graduated in 1994, after which he enrolled at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He has since become one of the most recognisable actors in the world.

The Canadian has starred in famous rom-coms like The Proposal and Just Friends, alongside Marvel Universe blockbusters as Deadpool and DC’s less acclaimed Green Lantern movie. He has also lent his voice to animated films, including The Croods franchise, Turbo, and the animated character Pikachu in Detective Pikachu.

Reynolds has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Critics' Choice Award and a People's Icon Award. In 2017, he was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was also named People’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2010.

Now, as one of Hollywood’s highest earners, his net worth is estimated to be in the region of $400m (£295m). According to Forbes, the actor was the second-highest-paid star in 2024, raking in around £79m and trailing only Dwayne Johnson in the rich list.

Much of that income stemmed from major projects, including box office smash Deadpool and Wolverine, alongside family film IF and the Emmy-winning documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.

Reynolds has also boosted his fortune through shrewd business ventures. He held a 20% stake in Aviation Gin before its sale in a $600m (£443m) deal in 2020. A further windfall followed in 2023 when he sold a major share in Mint Mobile to T-Mobile as part of a $1.35billion (£997m) agreement, reportedly earning him more than $300m (£220m).

Away from Hollywood, Reynolds has injected considerable funds into Wrexham AFC, with he and co-owner Rob Mac believed to have invested over £20m since their 2021 takeover. Yet, the journey hasn't come without a cost. During a 2023 episode of Welcome to Wrexham, the pair revealed losses of around $12m (£8.9m), prompting Reynolds to joke: "I'm going to throw up."

However, it has all been worth it, with the club they purchased for £2m in 2020 now said to be valued at around £350m. More recently, the club secured a major financial windfall of close to £50m thanks to investment from Apollo Sports Capital, after the Allyn family bought a stake of roughly 15% in 2024.