Ryan Reynolds responds to effort to have Vancouver street renamed in his honour

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — It looks like there’s been a little bump in the road to having a Vancouver street named after Ryan Reynolds.

The actor got wind of a petition launched earlier this week by the hosts of the morning show on KiSS RADiO, NEWS 1130’s sister station.

In a tweet, Reynolds jokingly rebuffed the effort.

“Very kind but hard pass. If traffic sucks everyone will say, ‘Ryan Reynolds is a mess’ or ‘Ryan Reynolds is really backed up.’ My brothers would enjoy this too much.”

OMG @VancityReynolds responded to our petition to name a street after him in Vancouver!!!

Should we keep it going? Even if it’s just so his brothers can make fun of him? https://t.co/aOetmwJyXn

— Kevin Lim (@KevinLimOnAir) November 28, 2020

Kevin Lim, who started the petition says he doesn’t think the tongue-in-cheek dismissal of the idea is a reason to stop trying to get a street in Reynolds’ home town after him.

“I think that’s all the more reason why we should continue it to be honest. As an older brother myself, I know that that would just be an incredible gift to a family, and there’s just so much support for this already,” he says.

“I don’t think he would ever be the first person to say ‘Oh yeah, I deserve a street named after me.’ He responded in a very Ryan Reynolds way. I’d still love to find a way to honour him because he just does so much great work to elevate our profile for Vancouver, and for the community.”

Since @VancityReynolds talked about traffic being too busy, I asked @KevinLimOnAir if they should consider another #VancouverBC spot. He says they’ve received some other suggestions from listeners…like naming a cul-de-sac after him. (Relatively less busy than a street, IMO.)

— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) November 29, 2020

The petition points out a number of ways Reynolds has made news this year for helping people in the city and across Canada in 2020. The petition was launched after Reynolds announced he and his wife Blake Lively were donating $500,000 to Covenant House to help fund the organization’s work with homeless youth in Vancouver and Toronto.

Reynolds’ other notable efforts in 2020 include using his own salary to hire BIPOC production assistants to work on a Vancouver-based project, helping reunite a woman with a beloved keepsake that was stolen, and treating the graduating class of his alma-mater with pizza after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the ceremony.

Lim says the response to the petition which had gathered close to 2,000 signatures Saturday shows there is a swell of support for the idea.

“A lot of people have picked up on this story and it just goes to show how much love and support there is for Ryan Reynolds, not just in his hometown but everywhere,” he says.

And Lim says he doesn’t really care if the street is a tiny cul-de-sac or a major thoroughfare.

“Ryan Reynolds Road has a nice ring to it. In terms of where we’d put it, I don’t know. To be honest, we’re not really too picky, we would just love to see something honouring him somewhere in the city.”