Ryan Reynolds recently opened up about his parenting style, explaining why he “soft-parents” his four kids, but still jokingly called them “Spawns of Satan.” In a recent interview, the Deadpool star revealed how he and Blake Lively use softer and calmer parenting strategies with their kids. He spoke about how he never got to experience soft parenting, so he tries to do the best for his kids.
Here’s what Ryan Reynolds said about their parenting style.
Ryan Reynolds talks about parenting
Ryan Reynolds recently shed light on his parenting style during his appearance at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City on November 18, 2025. The actor confessed that he did not have this kind of parenting while growing up, but he had been engaged in “soft parenting” with his four kids.
Reynolds was asked if he thought “resilience” and “drive” that he gained in his childhood would be missing in his children. The actor said (via PEOPLE), “I don’t know,…God, I’m not f*****ng them up enough?”
He continued, “Soft parenting is new, right? I didn’t have that.” He added about his style of parenting, “There’s not a lot of yelling or punishments or anything like that.” He added, “But I’ll tell you something. I don’t think … I really don’t believe that you have to be screwed up, f****d up, to make good stuff.”
He further revealed that he believed having gentler parents allows better decision-making. Reynolds explained, “[Having] those challenges when you’re younger, really taught people how to get themselves to a place of safety,” he said, adding that it makes people feel like they ‘earned it.’…But if you’re just in a place of safety, you make great decisions.” He added, “You really kind of work from a place that isn’t fight or flight. You actually get to be thoughtful, and you get to think about everybody in the room.”
The actor, however, joked about his kids, “Are they still, like, spawns of Satan? Yes. Am I calling myself the Satan this moment? Yes. But they are. They are.” He added, “They are still kids.”
Reynolds will soon appear in Animal Friends and Avengers: Doomsday.
