Despite a $450M Difference in Net Worth, Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds Formed an Exceptional Bond in Hollywood: Uncovering How and When They Became Friends

Good friendships are hard to find. But it’s an amazing fluke when you find someone who matches your energy. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has many friends in and out of Hollywood. However, one of the closest friends of the WWE legend is another fun-loving actor.

Ryan Reynolds plays ‘Deadpool’ for Marvel Studios and is known widely for his ‘goofy’ personality. One of his lesser-known facts is that one of his closest Hollywood friends is the ‘Black Adam’ star. Looking at the two actors being such close friends, you might be thinking about how they met for the first time. If that’s the case, we have got you covered.

Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds: how they met for the first time

‘The Rock’, at first, aspired to become an NFL player. Despite playing football in college, Johnson couldn’t make his dream come true. So, he tried his luck at wrestling, following in the footsteps of his father. It worked out to be the best alternative for Dwayne Johnson, who quickly became a fan favorite.

In 2001, Johnson made his Hollywood debut. One year later, he got his first lead role in The Scorpion King (2002). This is when the friendship started.

‘Entertainment Tonight’ once reported on Dwayne Johnson’s story of how he met Ryan Reynolds. “I have not known any actor in Hollywood longer than I’ve known Ryan Reynolds. We started our careers together. I had ‘The Scorpion King’ come out. He had ‘Van Wilder’ come out. We were criss-crossing promotions. We wound up in Cancun on ‘MTV Spring Break’ promoting our movies,” revealed ‘The Brahma Bull’ about his first meeting with Reynolds.

Then began a fun friendship back then that is still going strong. Despite having possible differences in opinions and professional ideas, the duo shares a special relationship.

Ryan Reynolds on his relationship with Dwayne Johnson

There aren’t many instances where ‘The Brahma Bull’ has talked about how his relationship is with Reynolds. However, through how they appear in the public eye, we can make the assumption that it’s mostly fun and playful.

The two superstars don’t hold back from showing everyone that they are friends. This fun relationship seeps into their professional lives as well.

Appearing on Jimmy Fallon‘s The Tonight Show in 2020, Reynolds revealed a hilarious detail about how he and Johnson are on a movie set. The wrestler confessed that both of them were the reason why the filming of the movie ‘Red Notice’ had to be shut down halfway through.

“We made it about 1 or 2 days past the halfway point line. I’m guessing we might’ve finished the movie if we didn’t spend 90 percent of the time d*cking around, laughing,” Reynolds said. “I’ve known Dwayne for like 15 years. So, we tend to spend time trying to make each other laugh, which is a really irresponsible thing to do with Netflix, their money.”

The Hollywood superstar clearly revealed that the duo is looking forward to making the most out of the time they get together. This is the reason why they are such good friends.

Ryan Reynolds considers Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson his good friend

While it’s not an easy task to point out what makes someone a ‘good friend’ to an individual, Reynolds seemed to have figured it out on his part. In the same interview that we mentioned above, Reynolds also talked about what exactly makes him like Johnson so much.

When Jimmy Fallon asked him about the same, the 46-year-old had a wholesome reply.

He replied to Fallon saying, “I think one of the reasons I’ve been friends with him for a long time is he really laughs at himself, which is one of the things I love about him.” He also went on to elaborate on the same by giving an example of what would actually make ‘The Rock’ laugh out loud.

He said that all he needed to do in order to make Johnson laugh was to imitate his last said lines in a squeaky and ‘fast-forward’ manner. According to him, this would make ‘The Rock’ leave the room immediately.

This fun fact, combined with the list of the projects they have taken on together, only leaves us imagining what both of them must have been like on the sets of each film.

List of Movies they worked on together

Although the two Hollywood superstars met all the way back in 2002, they didn’t appear in movies together for a long time. The first project that both Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson worked on together was just 4 years ago. Starting in 2019 with the Fast & Furious spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw, the two friends started appearing in movies together. But Reynolds didn’t get a lot of screen time in the movie.

The movie Free Guy in 2021, starred Ryan Reynolds as the main protagonist. However, the movie had several cameos from big Hollywood stars who also happened to be Reynolds’ friends. One of them was ‘The Rock’ who voiced a bank robber in one of the movie’s segments.

After that, the two finally got to share a movie worth of screen time together in Netflix’s ‘Red Notice’. The action-comedy of 2021 was a blockbuster hit and is most probably getting a sequel featuring the two friends.

Are you also among the people who are fond of this Hollywood friendship? Let us know in the comments below. Make sure to drop the name of your favorite movie, in which the two stars come together.

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