Yes, that was Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively at the Muskoka Drive-In
Talk about a movie with the stars
A lot of celebrities will see films while they’re attending TIFF over the next 10 days: they’re here, they’ve got a little down time between press conferences and after-parties and, presumably, they like movies. But Ryan Reynolds is not most celebrities.
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Hollywood’s Captain Canada and the producer of the festival’s opening-night selection, John Candy: I Like Me, Reynolds loves the north like Deadpool loves saying “chimichanga.” So of course he went the extra mile (make that 170 kilometres) to bring his entire family to a drive-in theatre in Ontario cottage country.
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The owner of the Muskoka Drive-In Theatre recently revealed that Reynolds was there late last month to catch a screening of Freakier Friday with his wife, Blake Lively, and their kids. According to theatre staff, the family blended right in with other movie-goers. Lively—who got into the Buy Canadian spirit in a sweater that read “Muskoka” across the back—revealed that this was her children’s first-ever drive-in experience. For everyone else in the lot, it was probably their first-ever “Is that Ryan Reynolds munching popcorn in the car next to us?” experience.
Related: Is Cindy Crawford trolling Canadians from her Muskoka cottage?
Reynolds has been spending time in the area leading up to TIFF. Just three days ago, Toronto cheese master Afrim Pristine posted a snap of his surprise Reynolds encounter, commenting: “A run in like this in cottage country doesn’t get more Canadiana.” Maybe not, but there’s always the possibility that Reynolds will up the patriotic ante—showing up to tonight’s screening of John Candy: I Like Me on a moose would do the trick. But we’re dealing with the master of viral moments here, so let’s leave the particulars to him.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
