Ryan Reynolds made a surprise appearance at Hugh Jackman’s concert in New York City — grabbing the mic to pay tribute to his close friend.
Reynolds, 48, spoke from the audience at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, January 24, while Jackman, 56, stood onstage during a pause in his show Hugh Jackman Live: From New York With Love, which opened that night.
The previous summer, Reynolds and Jackman took over movie theaters with their Marvel blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine.
Reynolds, sporting a white button-down shirt, gray pants and white sneakers, opened his speech with an anecdote about Jackman’s behavior on the set of the superhero movie.
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“Just like here, he knew every single person’s name, even though he was making them up half the time,” the actor, businessman and husband of Blake Lively told the crowd, drawing laughs. “He showed a kind of courtesy and gentleness and curiosity, and he put value into every single crew member that we were working with.”
Reynolds called Jackman “my gotcha for life,” even though, he said, “I’m his second-best friend.”
Ryan Reynolds takes the mic at opening night of Hugh Jackman’s show at Radio City Music Hall pic.twitter.com/XOAST0L7xO
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 25, 2025
Reynolds joked Friday that “we were supposed to finish this bit where these two security gentlemen come and they try to take the mic [from] me — it’s like a struggle, and then they tase me and I go down, and then they hog-tie me and then they put me in the Radio City music garbage dump, and then they just light it on fire.”
However, he continued, “I wanted to actually just say, I love this man, I care about this man. He is, he is genuinely the best human being I know. And I have 4 children!”
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The lovefest was mutual.
“I love you, Ryan Reynolds, I love you, man,” Jackman replied, joking that his pal was actually his fifth best friend. “Thanks for coming. And thanks for asking for a free ticket, too.”
The duo plan to reunite on the big screen again — but not in a Deadpool sequel. Reynolds said in November that he was “spending the year writing” a new movie for himself, Jackman and director Shawn Levy.
Deadpool & Wolverine, helmed by Levy, featured a plethora of cameos including Lively, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes and Chris Evans, and grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.
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While promoting the film, Reynolds and Jackman, put their brotherly bond on full display. Reynolds shared that his and Lively’s four kids — James, 10, Inez, 8, Betty, 5, and Olin, born in 2023 — consider Jackman family.
“They’re all kind of in love with Uncle Hughy over here, so that worked out pretty well,” Reynolds told Extra in July 2024. “He got attacked by Betty backstage, who thinks she has claws, so she goes at him. I have to actually give her a little tiny time-out.”
Jackman seems to be supporting Reynolds amid his wife’s ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni. Earlier this month, he joined Reynolds and Lively in skipping the Golden Globe Awards amid the drama, although a source told Us Weekly that their joint absences had nothing to do with the dueling lawsuits.
Jackman, for his part, has recently gone public with girlfriend Sutton Foster. The twosome have been photographed holding hands after months of keeping their relationship private. Jackman and Foster first sparked show-romance rumors in 2023 during the revival of The Music Man on Broadway.
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Us confirmed in November 2024 that the couple were dating.
“They’re happier than ever,” a source said, noting that they share a “balance of playfulness and genuine admiration.”
