Ryan Reynolds Celebrates Rob McElhenney’s Birthday By Teaching Us All How to Pronounce His Last Name

Jon Blistein
Updated ·1 min read
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GettyImages-1251316243 - Credit: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images
GettyImages-1251316243 - Credit: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

Ryan Reynolds pulled out every possible stop he could think of to celebrate his buddy Rob McElhenney’s birthday Friday, April 14 — though the real gift was teaching us all how to properly pronounce the actor’s last name.

With the help of songwriters/composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Reynolds staged an elaborate musical number about all the wrong ways to say “McElhenney,” and the one right one (it’s “Mack-el-henny” — but, really, just listen to the song to make sure). The video features McElhenney’s wife and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-star Kaitlin Olson, a troupe of Irish dancers, Welsh singer Charlotte Church, and an array of folks from the soccer club McElhenney and Reynolds own, Wrexham AFC.

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And as Reynolds quipped on social media, “Would be a real shame if this became a Wrexham AFC Racecourse chant.”

As for McElhenney, he was left about as close to speechless as possible, replying on Twitter, “This is…. I mean… I don’t…. Wow.”

This, by the way, is not the first stunt McElhenney and Reynolds have pulled to celebrate the other. Last April, Reynolds kicked off this ridiculous game of birthday brinksmanship by honoring McElhenney with a memorial urinal plaque in a bathroom at the Wrexham stadium. Then in October, McElhenney returned the favor by launching “The Ryan Reynolds Memorial Blimp,” featuring a beautifully unflattering photo of Reynolds.

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