Recently, Ryan Reynolds connected with a First Nations school in Ontario, Canada, for an interview with the media club there, and he revealed a lot in his long conversation with school student chief Derek Monias of Sandy Lake First Nation.
One of Monias’ questions for Reynolds during the interview was, “What do you think about Shania Twain changing the lyrics of her song using your name instead of Brad Pitt?”
The question referred to a moment at the People’s Choice Awards on Dec. 6 that quickly went viral, during Twain’s performance of her hit song, “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
At first, Reynolds joked, saying, “Well, I think we can all agree, it’s about time.”
But then he revealed that it was beneficial for him as, at that moment, he was extremely nervous about giving an upcoming acceptance speech. After Twain, 57, called him out, it took away some of his anxiety.
Reynolds, 46, told Monias, “I was not expecting that…Because I, like a lot of people, get very nervous when I publicly speak. You know, and I have to stand on a platform, and it’s also just odd because you’re winning an award.”
“Maybe it’s because I grew up in Canada and I sort of tend to rely on laughing at myself as a defense mechanism, but in those moments, you have to be pretty gracious. And when you’re accepting an award like the Icon Award, I didn’t know…I just felt the whole thing was a little embarrassing,” he admitted.
But thanks to Twain, it was easier than he expected.
He said, “So when Shania called it out, I was so grateful because it took the tension out of my body in a good way, made me think of something else for a second.”
Reynolds continued: “So then I went up and gave my little speech, and it went better than I thought. So sort of, in a weird way, I have to thank Shania Twain for that.”
At the 2022 People’s Choice Awards, Reynolds was presented with the Icon Award, introduced by Free Guy co-star Lil Rel Howery.
