Slow and steady wins the race.
During the red carpet for the 2022 E! People's Choice Awards, Ryan Reynolds shared insight into his A-list career, revealing that his Hollywood success didn't happen over night. As Ryan detailed, he never "experienced that meteoric rise," and he's very "grateful" for that.
"I look at these young actors who come up and they have this overnight success, that's hard," he told Live From E!: People's Choice Awards' Laverne Cox. "I've seen that brutalize people and I've seen people rise above it. So, I was very lucky that it all happened very, very slowly for me—and I feel like it's still happening very slowly."
While Ryan may not feel like an A-lister, he's certainly become a staple in pop culture, starring in blockbuster films like Deadpool, Free Guy, Red Notice, The Proposal, among others. Oh, and there is his swoon-worthy marriage to Gossip Girl's Blake Lively to envy. The duo, who share daughters James, 7, Inez, 6, and Betty, 3, are expecting their fourth child together.
In fact, Ryan made sure to note to Laverne how lucky he is for his "stable life."
So, it's no wonder Ryan was named The People's Icon at the Dec. 6 ceremony, which took place at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.
Through this award, Ryan joins the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry, who took home the top honor at the 2021 E! People's Choice Awards. He was also nominated in two other categories, The Comedy Movie Star of 2022 and The Male Movie Star of 2022, for his work in Netflix's The Adam Project.
For a look at the night's big winners, click here.