NEWSRyan Reynolds Admits He and Wife Blake Lively's 4 Kids Are 'Spawns of Satan': 'It's a Worry'
Ryan Reynolds jokingly referred to his four kids as the 'spawns of satan' while explaining how he's adopted 'soft parenting' styles.
Nov. 19 2025, Published 4:14 p.m. ET
Ryan Reynolds is keeping it real about parenting, admitting that his four kids, whom he shares with his wife, Blake Lively, can be little devils.
The Deadpool actor, 49, discussed how adopting “soft parenting” techniques with his four children – James, 10, Inez, 9, Betty, 6, and Olin, 2 – helped them “feel safe,” while addressing the audience at The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Summit in New York City on Tuesday, November 18.
Ryan Reynolds Referred to His Kids As 'Spawns of Satan'
Ryan Reynolds shares four children with Blake Lively.
“I think my kids feel safe,” Reynolds jokingly told the crowd. “Are they still, like, spawns of Satan? Yes. Am I calling myself the Satan this moment? Yes. But they are. They are.”
The conversation began when the Bullet Train star was asked if he believed the “drive” and “resilience” he learned during his childhood would be passed down to his offspring.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively 'Soft Parent'
Ryan Reynolds revealed his parenting techniques are different compared to how he was brought up.
“I don't know. It's a worry, you know: ‘God I'm not f------ them up enough?’” he jokingly replied, before explaining the methods he uses with his kids.
"There's not a lot of yelling or punishments or anything like that,” the actor shared, adding, “But I'll tell you something. I don't think … I really don't believe that you have to be screwed up, f----- up, to make good stuff.”
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Ryan Reynolds Tries to Make His Children 'Feel Safe'
Ryan Reynolds said it is important for his children to 'feel safe.'
Reynolds clarified that “soft parenting” provides an environment where children “feel safe,” which, in terms, translates to better decision making.
“[Having] those challenges when you're younger, really taught people how to get themselves to a place of safety,” he said of his childhood experience, explaining that it makes you feel like you’ve “earned it.”
“But if you're just in a place of safety, you make great decisions,” he continued. “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.”
Ryan Reynolds Said Parents Today Are 'Different'
Ryan Reynolds said his parents' approach left him unable to 'process' things he felt.
Reynolds has been open about parenting his own children differently than his parents raised him, noting their approach left him unsure of “how to process things” he felt.
“I [had a] scarcity mindset when I was younger. I didn’t know how to unfold that thing in your brain that conditions you just always to win or be right,” he said at HubSpot’s INBOUND tech conference last fall. “Parents today are so different. We're so soft. I don't yell. I grew up with like — it was nuts, it was an improvised militia.”
