Before there was the "perfect" marriage to Blake Lively or the whirlwind divorce from Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds was half of Canada’s most intense power couple. It’s kinda wild to think about now, but back in the early 2000s, the Deadpool star and the Jagged Little Pill icon weren't just dating—they were engaged for three long years.
Whenever their names pop up in retro slideshows, the same question hits the search bars: What was the Ryan Reynolds Alanis Morissette age difference, and did it actually matter?
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People love to speculate that a massive gap caused their messy 2007 split. In reality? The gap was barely a gap at all.
The Numbers Behind the Romance
Alanis Morissette was born on June 1, 1974. Ryan Reynolds followed a couple of years later, born on October 23, 1976.
Do the math. The Ryan Reynolds Alanis Morissette age difference is exactly two years and nearly five months.
In the world of Hollywood, where 20-year gaps are basically the industry standard, this is practically nothing. They were peers. When they met at Drew Barrymore’s birthday party in February 2002, Alanis was 27 and Ryan was 25. They were two young Canadians navigating massive, sudden fame at roughly the same life stage.
Why People Think the Gap Was Bigger
So why do we remember them differently? It probably comes down to their career trajectories at the time.
By 2002, Alanis Morissette was already a global legend. She’d released Jagged Little Pill in 1995. She had Grammys. She was the voice of a generation. To the public, she felt like a seasoned veteran of the industry—"older" in spirit because she’d been in the spotlight since her teens.
Ryan, meanwhile, was still finding his footing. He was the guy from National Lampoon's Van Wilder and the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl. He was "up-and-coming." There’s a funny story from the set of the 1998 movie Dirty Work where Chris Farley reportedly teased a young Ryan for dating "older women" who could help his career. But honestly? Two years isn't "older." It's just a different level of tax bracket.
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The "Trampoline" Love and the Breakup
They were obsessed with each other. Truly. Alanis famously told People that she felt loved by him in a "trampoline kind of way." They were engaged by 2004 and spent nearly five years together in total.
But by February 2007, it was over.
The split wasn't about age. It was about the pressure of the spotlight and, according to Alanis, her own "love addiction." She hit rock bottom. She went to therapy five days a week. She eventually funneled all that wreckage into her 2008 album Flavors of Entanglement. If you listen to the track "Torch," you’re basically hearing her mourn the loss of Ryan’s "pure abiding way."
Meanwhile, Ryan moved on fast. He was spotted with Scarlett Johansson just months later, which Alanis later admitted was a tough pill to swallow.
Quick Facts on the Timeline:
- Met: February 2002 (Drew Barrymore’s 27th Birthday)
- Engaged: June 2004
- Officially Split: February 2007
- Ages at Split: Alanis (32), Ryan (30)
Was the Age Difference a Factor?
Not really. While some fans look at Ryan’s later marriage to Blake Lively (who is 11 years his junior) and assume he has a "type," his history with Alanis shows he was perfectly happy being the younger partner for half a decade.
The real friction seemed to be a "power struggle," a term Alanis used vaguely in later years when discussing her past relationships. When one person is a global superstar and the other is a rising actor, the ego-clash is a bigger threat than the birth certificate.
Where They Are Now
Fast forward to 2026, and both have clearly found their rhythm. Alanis has been married to Mario "Souleye" Treadway since 2010, and they have three kids. Ryan and Blake Lively are basically the king and queen of celebrity social media with four children of their own.
Looking back at the Ryan Reynolds Alanis Morissette age difference, it’s a footnote in a much larger story about two people who were once the "poster couple" for Canada but simply grew in different directions.
Next Steps for the Curious:
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If you want to understand the emotional fallout of this era, listen to Alanis Morissette's 2008 album Flavors of Entanglement. Specifically, look at the lyrics for "Straightjacket" and "Torch." They offer a raw, unvarnished look at the end of their engagement that no tabloid headline could ever capture. For the Ryan side of things, his 2016 Deadpool press tour included a few cheeky nods to her music—showing that while the break was hard, the "utmost love and admiration" their reps promised back in '07 might actually be true.