Blake Lively gave a moving speech to her husband, Ryan Reynolds, as he accepted his American Cinematheque Award last night.
If this is your first time hearing of the American Cinematheque Award, it's "presented annually to an extraordinary artist currently making a significant contribution to the art of the Moving Picture." As it's understandably a pretty big deal, Ryan was supported by Blake and their two eldest daughters at the ceremony.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Blake started her speech by praising Ryan's "art, his heart, his philanthropy, his humor, his integrity, his unmatched work ethic, his self-deprecating levity, his hard-earned depths, and his grace."
.@BlakeLively lists the qualities she loves about her husband @VanCityReynolds at the American Cinematheque Awards
Given that the award is American, Blake gave a shoutout to Ryan's birthplace, Canada. "So many of those stunning qualities comes from his homeland, Canada, and giving back to the country that gave him his life is critical to who he is as a person," she continued.
In fact, Ryan used to drive home to Canada every weekend when he first moved to LA — a practice that Blake called "essential to keeping him grounded, to keeping him sane, to keeping him him."
“Now I am his home, and his girls are his home, and just like that 19-year-old boy he races home — whether it’s from across the globe or a meeting across the street, he is hardwired to get home," she continued.
“If he came home from set not in his wardrobe we would be very concerned — soaked in mud, fake blood, real blood, prosthetic scars, superhero suits, tap shoes or clown makeup, Daddy always comes home.”
Blake went on to emphasize how Ryan consistently "shows up" for their family "the way he quietly and invisibly does, all the time."
To finish things off, Blake said that she wanted to leave the crowd "not with the specifics of his actions, but with the DNA of who he is. That DNA is distinctly Canadian, spun one magical night in 1976 between the bedsheets of Jim and Tammy Reynolds. I'm looking at you Tam-Tam, you little hussy!"
Ryan started off his own speech in a characteristically flippant fashion, saying, “Anyone who knows me knows how much I love an evening devoted entirely to me."
“I’ve never really taken myself too seriously, as many of you know, and it creates a pretty confounding paradox when I’m celebrated by a very serious award show with prestigious company like this.”
“Most importantly I get to spend my days working with my favorite collaborator of all, my wife Blake. You are the greatest ghostwriter in Hollywood history, you have literally authored me into this moment,” he added.
