Ryan Reynolds Opened Up About Having A COVID-19 Christmas: "It Sucks"

Putting his usual social media hijinks on pause, Ryan Reynolds shared how he's doing Christmas during COVID-19 in a serious Instagram story on Saturday, Dec. 19. Like many others around the world, the actor and his wife, Blake Lively, are celebrating differently this holiday season due to the worsening novel coronavirus pandemic. He admitted he doesn't like it, but it's what they're doing.

"My kids won't see their grandparents this year for Christmas. Or friends or aunts," he wrote. "It sucks."

The Croods: A New Age actor has been candid in the past about the importance of family, so their plans for a smaller celebration than usual — as encouraged by CDC guidelines to limit the spread of the disease — are evidently a disappointment. It sounds like it will just be the Lively-Reynolds household, which includes the couple and their three daughters, Inez, James, and Betty. He sympathized with fans who won't be able to connect with relatives this year, either, writing, "My hat's off to so many others doing the same."

Lively and Reynolds were outspoken on social media about following COVID-19 guidelines to flatten the curve early in the pandemic. The couple has also publicly supported coronavirus relief efforts. In March, Reynolds and Lively donated $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, sharing the news on both Twitter and Instagram. Reynolds posted a message about the health crisis on Instagram, writing, "COVID-19 has brutally impacted older adults and low-income families." He added in the caption: "I think we can all agree, COVID-19 is an *sshole."

In April, Reynolds also urged fans to support Conquer COVID-19, an organization committed to getting PPE to frontline personnel. The couple donated $250,000 to Covenant House Vancouver and Covenant House Toronto to provide homeless youth with basic needs like food or shelter, as well as prepare them for successful and independent futures. In November, the organization thanked Lively and Reynolds, writing that the Deadpool star had "chosen to use his donation as a special matching gift to encourage others to donate to Covenant House."

While the COVID-19 pandemic will prevent Reynolds' family from celebrating with relatives, the couple will likely be spending plenty of quality time with their daughters. Reynolds discussed parenting with Lively in a November interview with Mario Lopez's two daughters for Access, saying that the couple tries not to be away from family for too long. "I try to be as present as possible. I shoot movies and my wife shoots movies and we go travel all over the place and we just all go together," he said. "I think that that’s been the best part of it. We really don't spend a lot of time apart. I get to spend a lot of time with my girls."