Ryan Reynolds wins Governor General's award

• Hollywood star wins honour from GG
• Various stars make moving tribute
• Reynolds is well-known for promoting and supporting good causes

B.C. boy and comedic movie mega-star Ryan Reynolds, has won the Governor General’s National Arts Centre Award.

He was the most high-profile of several talented recipients across various professional and volunteer categories presented at the televised gala event Friday night.

In his inimitable fashion, Reynolds later tweeted he hadn’t really been moved to tears by a special video tribute to him acknowledging his service to his profession and to Canada. He said, in fact, those tears were ‘just maple syrup.’

The award given to Reynolds recognizes work of an extraordinary nature and significance in the performing arts by an individual artist and/or company in the past performance year.

The special pre-recorded video tribute to Reynolds during the show included a tongue-in-cheek song for him by Bare Naked Ladies co-founder Steven Page. Other celebs also gave him credit for his efforts.

At the end of the tribute video, the camera pans to him and his reaction, as he sits outside with his newly won Governor General medal around his neck.

“Wow. That was stunning,” he says as he thumps his heart. “I mean, that made me cry.”

He clears his throat and wipes his eyes.

“I guess I’ve made it,” he says with a laugh. The whole video can be seen here.

Later, Reynolds took to Twitter with some typical self-deprecating humour.

“Last night, Canada honoured me with a Governor General's Award and this video. I'm not crying. It's just maple syrup,” he said. “Steven Page is a friend and legend for wasting this amazing song on me. Thank you to Her Excellency, GG Canada Mary Simon. I'm a wreck,” Reynolds tweeted.

The official awards write-up states Reynolds is one of Canada’s most beloved and widely recognized actors. In a repertoire ranging from TV sitcoms to animated and feature films, he has established himself as a versatile and engaging performer with a charismatic and quirky persona.

Most recently, he has earned popular and critical acclaim for his portrayal of the title character in the hugely successful action movies Deadpool and Deadpool 2.

Reynolds was born in Vancouver in 1976.

A committed environmentalist and activist, he has been involved with a number of charities, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

In 2020, to help people hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively donated $1 million to Food Banks Canada and Feeding America.

This week Reynolds took to social media promoting donations to the Red Cross following the devastating floods in B.C.