Karate Kid Star Is Related to A-Lister Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds is currently one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors with an impressive career spanning almost three decades. Arguably he had a resurgence in popularity after starring in the 2016 film Deadpool. On top of being an A-lister, Ryan Reynolds also has a connection to the Karate Kid film franchise. 

Reynolds is married to Blake Lively, whose half-sister actress Robyn, portrayed the character Jessica Andrews in The Karate Kid Part III. 

Lively Appears To Have a Close Relationship With Both Blake & Ryan

GettySisters Blake and Robyn Lively pose together in 2017.

The Teen Witch star appears to have a close relationship with her sister and her brother-in-law. 

During a 2016 interview with People magazine, the actress voiced her support for Reynolds and revealed that she had traveled to New York “for the Deadpool premiere.”

“We are so proud of Ryan. He’s killing it and the box office is amazing. We’re so, so proud of him,” said Lively. 

In the same interview, the mother-of-three shared sweet words about her niece, James, who was then 14-months old.

“She’s just the cutest ever. I’m so in love with her,” said the actress.

Lively Has Spoken About Possibly Reprising Her Role on ‘Cobra Kai’

GettyBlake Lively and Robyn Lively are photographed together at a Michael Kors event.

While Lively’s character, Jessica, has not yet been featured in Cobra Kai, the actress expressed interest in working on the acclaimed series. In a 2017 interview with the Below the Belt Show podcast, Lively revealed that she was friends with William “Billy” Zabka, who plays Johnny Lawrence.

“Billy’s my bud… I love Billy he’s great. He’s the best,” said the actress. 

She went on to say that she spoke to Zabka about Cobra Kai, which at the time of the interview had not yet been released.

“We’ve been texting, and I’ve been like Billy! You know, I need to be on this show. It must happen. It has to happen… I think it would be so much fun,” said the actress.

She also discussed her relationship with the “Karate Kid” himself, Ralph Macchio.

“Ralph — I don’t ever see, but he is so great he was so wonderful to work with,” noted the actress.   

She also addressed that her Karate Kid Part III character was initially supposed to be the film’s romantic lead. However, Daniel and Jessica’s relationship was later edited to be strictly platonic, as Lively was just 16-years-old and Macchio was 27.

“I was scripted to be the girlfriend, but then the age difference was so awkward that they ended up changing it so that I would just be his friend… Especially at the time, you know, I was 16 he was quite a bit older than me than he was married. I was just a teenager,” noted the actress. 

Lively also spoke about her experience starring in The Karate Kid Part III in a December 2020 interview that was uploaded on actor Josh Gad’s YouTube channel. She explained that she was thrilled when she “got the audition,” but was convinced that she was going to lose the part to Heather Graham, who Lively “was testing against.” 

“The minute I saw her I was like, ‘Oh I’m never going to get this. She’s like a doll. She’s like the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,’” said the actress. 

Lively noted that when she did secure the part of Jessica she “was pinching [herself].”

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