GQ has announced their men of the year, and the list is… alright. It’s like they were making a conscious choice to choose the most uncontroversial people though. Their three men of the year (or the men who got individual covers) are Ryan Reynolds, Usain Bolt and Warren Beatty. Ryan is being recognized for the huge gamble of putting together the Deadpool movie. It was a gamble that paid off with an enormous box office, and now Ryan finally has a franchise that really works for him. You can read the full GQ piece here. Some highlights:

Life after filming Deadpool: “When it finally ended, I had a little bit of a nervous breakdown. I literally had the shakes. I went to go see a doctor because I felt like I was suffering from a neurological problem or something. And every doctor I saw said, ‘You have anxiety.’”

The success of Deadpool: “I’ve been on the train for 11 years trying to get it made… Once the test footage leaked, that created a groundswell of support. And the studio responded to that groundswell by saying, ‘Okay, here’s the absolute bare minimum amount of money that we will give this character. Let us know when the movie’s done.’ We made our production budget back on Friday [after the Thursday midnight premiere]. There’s a certain vindication that comes with that, especially because the studio––granted, under different regimes––for years just kept telling us to go f–k ourselves sterile.”

Whether Fox will give them more money for the sequel: “Are you insane? That never happens, trust me. And the first time, it was almost like the more Fox took away from us, the stronger we got. There’s two moments in the movie where I forget my ammo bag. That’s not because Deadpool’s forgetful. That’s because we couldn’t afford the guns that we’re about to use in the scene.”

Dealing with his father’s death: “I had a rough ten-year patch with my father. So we were estranged… From my earliest memory of him, my father was that stereotypical tough guy. But it was just a veneer. The hardest part for me is that he was always kind of a mystery. I just don’t feel like I ever had a real conversation with him… But I actually that sort of epic moment that only happens in films, where I saw him before he died and closed the loop as much as I could. We’re all just hurtling through space in this green, spinning sh-t-wheel of devastation. At some point, you just kinda gotta live and let go.”

His family with Blake Lively: “I’m on the precipice of having a real American family. I mean, I always imagined that would happen, and then it happened. Every idiotic Hallmark-card cliché is true.”

When he knew Blake was the one: “Probably after the sex,” he says jokingly. “No, we were hanging out at this little restaurant in Tribeca that’s open really late, and this song came on and I was just like, ‘Want to dance?’ No one was in there, so it was just totally empty. And it was just one of those moments where halfway through the dance, it was like, ‘Oh, I think I just crossed a line.’ And then I walked her home. And, uh, you know, I don’t really need to go into what happened after that.”

He feels more comfortable in his own skin now: “I never wanted to reveal too much. I used to shut down, like, ‘Okay, only crack jokes and cover the subject at hand in a very kind of cursory way.’ But I’ve embraced the fact that I’m smart. I’ve embraced the fact that I’m an idiot. I’ve embraced the fact that I’m funny… It’s all human life. Take it or leave it.”

[From GQ]

I agree with Ryan that he seems more comfortable these days. Part of that is probably just his evolution as an actor, and getting the validation from Deadpool’s success. Another part of it is just growing up. When you’re in your 20s, you still give a sh-t about what people think of you. You let a lot of that go in your 30s. As for his stories about Blake and their family… that’s helped him chill out a lot too. He’s crazy in love with Blake and he’s obsessed with their babies. It’s really sweet.

Photos courtesy of Alasdair McLellan/GQ.