-I need everybody in here to make some noise
and welcome the 2022 People's Icon,
Ryan Reynolds!
-♪ Crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man ♪
♪♪
-Wow. Wow.
[ Audience "You deserve it" ]
Oh, boy. -You deserve it!
-Wow.
Wow, wow, wow.
I feel like I'm at my funeral. Except I get to leave.
Um, I guess I finally tested positive for icon.
I've been avoiding it --
avoiding it for years, but here we are.
You know, the one thing --
the one thing, you know, when you get a trophy like this,
you don't get one like this without a lot of help
from a lot of real icons,
folks who aren't always putting their iconic energies
in front of a camera.
Over the course of this long career,
a career as long as mine,
there are literally way too many people to mention,
but I'd be pretty remiss if I didn't mention
that it starts with my family and it ends with my family.
To...
[ Cheers and applause ]
To my mom, to my three brothers,
one of which is sitting right over there.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And to my dad, who -- he left us a few years ago.
And, boy, if he could see, you know,
all the things that have been going on,
he wouldn't be impressed with this stuff --
he'd be most blown away by his three little granddaughters.
You know, he's -- Wherever he is right now,
I promise you he's probably not watching
the People's Choice Awards.
You know, he cultivated most of his opinions in life
from old episodes of "Baywatch,"
so he's probably doing that, is my guess.
But to my original family,
thank you for making me who I am.
Thank you for your unfailing support of me,
despite some pretty -- pretty damn questionable years there.
To my work family at Maximum Effort.
This is super important to me.
Thank you guys for bringing me to this moment in my life.
My career has taken incredible and wonderful turns
because I get to work with some of the most talented people
on the planet every single day,
people with skill sets and points of view
that are wildly different than my own.
I am so grateful how Maximum Effort,
how this company has not only changed me,
but it leaves space to change others, as well.
And I got to thank my family-family.
Blake. Um...
[ Cheers and applause ]
Thank you.
Blake and my three daughters.
It's going to be a fourth child very soon.
[ Cheers and applause ]
If it happens tonight while I'm here,
I will be looking for a couch to sleep on for a little while.
I'd venture to guess
that Shania Twain has an amazing couch.
I'm just saying.
But Blake and my girls, you are --
Quite literally you're my heart,
you're my hope, you're my happiness.
I joke that my family exhausts me,
but in reality you give me more strength
than any man could possibly deserve.
Lastly, and this is super important,
I want to share this experience.
I want to share this.
Not of being an Icon. This is embarrassing.
I want to share the experience of working in storytelling,
because I've seen firsthand
how stories are improved with wide-ranging
and diverse backgrounds and points of view.
Maximum Effort and I have been fortunate enough to launch
two organizations whose purpose
is to create access and opportunity
for communities that have been historically
discriminated against, overlooked, or marginalized.
And...
[ Cheers and applause ]
And, you know, these two organizations
could use the help of all of you
to amplify their cause right here in this room.
The people in this room listening.
One is the Group Effort Initiative,
and this is for those seeking a career
in the entertainment industry.
The other is the Creative Ladder
for those seeking a career in marketing.
Google them, and if you can support them, awesome.
And if you want to get into these industries, join us.
Whether or not there's one of these fancy Icon awards
waiting for you or not, working in these fields,
they're a daily challenge, they're a daily joy,
and they bring people together.
The best people I know have been brought together
by these organizations, and the world could certainly use --
I think it's easy to say the world could certainly use
a lot more togetherness right now.
So thank you for this award. I really appreciate it.