Charisma Breakdown: Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds wields a puckish, irrepressible charisma he uses to easily place himself at the top of any social pile. This Charisma Breakdown shows how.

I first saw Ryan Reynolds on primetime TV in the show Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. I was 15 years old, and instantly, I found myself hooked: Reynolds’s effusive, puckish charisma and his amazing humor sucked me in. “This guy is AWESOME!” I said. A few years later he starred in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder; he was hilarious in it and his charisma was off the charts. For years since I’ve described my seduction style (and this site) as “smooth, stylish, and irreverent; think Sean Connery mixed with a dash of Van Wilder.”

In 2002 (when Van Wilder came out) I fully expected Reynolds to become a humongous star… only to be disappointed as he landed B-movie role after B-movie role for over a decade. People Magazine naming him the Sexiest Man Alive in 2010 did little to help his career.

Of course, today, Reynolds is a bankable leading man; his star rose to the heights it’s still at after the 2016 hit movie Deadpool (based on a character described in the comics as “Ryan Renolds [sic] crossed with a Shar-Pei”… in 2004, five years before Reynolds ever played the character – the role was really just a match made in Heaven. Or in a comic book office by some writer as enamored with Reynolds’s charisma as I was. Take your pick). I feel vindicated Reynolds finally achieved the clout he clearly deserves – but almost like that was a given, given his rare and potent charisma, know what I mean?

Anyway, today, as part of our ongoing discussion of charisma – which is itself part of our ongoing New Year’s promotion of my course “Charisma In A Bottle”, which is pretty much the best training program you are going to find on charisma anywhere on the Earth (and you can pick it up at a discount + with a limited edition manual through this Saturday) – let’s break down what makes Ryan Reynolds’s charisma so good.