My father was scary: Ryan Reynolds

“(He was) the toughest man alive: a former cop, former boxer and full-time land mine. He worked tirelessly to provide for his family and in return, you were expected to do what he said, often before he said it. In a word, he was scary. Not because he was sadistic or physically abusive. He was scary because he was one of those people with an energetic ‘weight’ to him,” the star said.

Reynolds said that as a young boy, he was terrified to get a gold stud earring and his brothers even tried to convince him not to do it. Describing the moment he sat down at the table with his father after it had been done, he said, “The little gold earring felt like it was flashing ember-red, as if to say, ‘Look at me! Over here! Your son is a tool! You raised a future Zen-garden salesman who collects artisanal bongs!’

“I could see he wasn’t just looking at me. His confused eyes darted spastically between all four boys in shock, disbelief and directionless anger. What he was in fact looking at, were four young men, sitting at a dinner table, each, with a freshly pierced ear,” Reynolds said.