Sure, it might be common knowledge that Ryan Reynolds, the much-beloved film actor, is a Vancouverite, but what some fans might not know is that his grandfather also played an important part in Canadian history.
Last Thursday, during a visit to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Global News Hour at 6 Edmonton news anchor Gord Steinke stumbled upon a framed, black and white photograph of Chester Reynolds — the Deadpool star’s paternal grandfather.
Eight decades ago, the older Reynolds became a provincial politician. He was revealed to be a member Legislative Assembly of Alberta between 1940 and 1944, during a Global Edmonton broadcast earlier this week.
“This means a lot to me,” the star added. “Sometimes Twitter isn’t a giant swimming pool filled with digital rabies,” he joked.
After further confirming which member of legislature was his grandfather in the photo (fourth from the left, top row), a number of fans commented on how much the two Reynolds resembled one another.
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“Don’t fool us,” tweeted one user,” that’s not your grandpa. That’s you!”
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“Looks just like him,” wrote Steinke in his own Instagram post. “This was fun. Nice exchange with Ryan Reynolds.”
Chester was a Social Credit member from the constituency of Stettler, according to the Alberta Legislature’s official government website.
Nathan Cooper, a Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, told Global Edmonton that in his four-year term, Chester “certainly made his mark.”
He continued: “There are a number of newspaper articles, his speeches getting long applause from his colleagues. Perhaps he was a good communicator just like Ryan.”
Furthermore, Steinke revealed that Ryan had sent him a “colourized version of the picture.”
“He said he was going to share it with his brothers,” added the host. “They never had a lot of information about their grandpa.”
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Gord Steinke is an employee of Corus Entertainment.
Global News and Global News Hour at 6 Edmonton are affiliates of the Corus Entertainment Network.
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