We all know that Blake Lively and Taylor Swift are besties, and in the lead-up to the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, there have been a lot of rumors regarding the pop star possibly showing up to act alongside Ryan Reynolds. Now, while the leading man won’t budge on these rumors, he has been asked about his relationship with Taylor Swift and his favorite song by her. And while his answer was obvious, it was also super sweet because of the darling story behind it.
Ryan Reynolds Revealed His Favorite Taylor Swift Song
While promoting their upcoming Marvel movie with Variety, Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy tried to guess Ryan Reynolds' favorite Taylor Swift song. The Wolverine actor confidently said he knew the answer because his co-star sang the song to him on their last day of filming Deadpool and Wolverine. His guess was “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” Meanwhile, the director, Levy, took a valiant guess with the Reputation deep cut “Gorgeous.” They were both wrong, the answer is obviously “Betty,” which Reynolds revealed by writing down the song title and saying:
Come on man, I’m in my Folklore and Evermore era.
Now, while I appreciate Reynolds’ collaborators’ funny answers, it’s so sweet that the actor did pick this song. And that’s because the track (and the leading character in it) is named after his and Blake Lively’s daughter, Betty.
The Story And Meaning Behind Ryan Reynolds And Blake Lively’s Connection To ‘Betty’
On Taylor Swift’s album Folklore, there’s a trio of tracks about a love triangle, and the characters involved are named Betty, James and Augustine (or “August”). Between the tracks “Cardigan,” “August” and “Betty” a teenage love story is told, and Swifties absolutely adore it. On top of this just being a lovely trio of songs, the characters’ names also pay homage to the singer’s friends, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, because two of their daughters are named Betty and James.
Adding to that, she name-dropped Betty, James and Inez, which means she mentioned all the names of the couple’s three kids (their fourth wasn’t born at the time). It’s a very lovely nod to her friends, and when asked about his family’s Folklore connection, Ryan Reynolds told SiriusXM back in 2021:
The names are the names of our kids. But, you know, we trust her implicitly. She’s very sensitive to any of that stuff. And obviously the song has nothing to do with our kids other than our kids’ names. But I mean, what an honor, I dunno, I thought it was pretty damn amazing. We still do.
Along with this being a nice reference to her friendship with Lively and Reynolds, when Swift accepted her Grammy for Folklore she mentioned the vital role these two play in her life. While thanking her collaborators and producers, she also said:
I want to thank James, Inez, and Betty and their parents who are the second and third people who I play every new song that I write.
Upcoming Taylor Swift Music And Other Things For Swifties To Look Forward To
Not only does she show them her music, they've also collaborated with her. Lively directed the music video for "I Bet You Think About Me," and Reynolds made a cameo in the "You Need To Calm Down" video. So, all around, these two are very connected to Swift and her career.
The singer is known to drop names and references to people in her life – most recently her Tortured Poets Department tracks “So High School” and “The Alchemy” feature many lyrics that allude to her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his career as a football player. So, it’s always amazing to hear her muses' reactions to the songs.
While “Betty” (and the other two songs in this trilogy) don’t have anything to do with Reynolds and Lively’s children, the fact that Swift honored them by naming her characters after them is so meaningful. Plus, the couple is famously private about their personal lives, especially when it comes to their children. So, just a simple name drop and no details outside of that probably meant the world to them.
All around, the wholesome story behind “Betty” totally explains why it is Ryan Reynolds’ favorite Taylor Swift song, and I love that he fully admitted that recently.
Hopefully, we’ll get more adorable peeks into this power couple's friendship with Swift. And who knows, considering the fact that the Deadpool actor is egging fans on about a Swift cameo in Deadpool and Wolverine, maybe, when it premieres on the 2024 movie schedule, she’ll pop up in it.
However, as we dream about the potential of that happening, let’s just soak up this precious story all about Ryan Reynolds’ favorite Taylor Swift song, because it’s “Sweeter Than Fiction.”