The Internet Thinks Ryan Reynolds Basically Used to Be Zack Morris

1 minute read

Lest you let Ryan Reynolds‘ status as one of Hollywood’s heartthrobs fool you, rest assured that even the Deadpool star had a typical awkward stage while he was growing up.

In a Instagram post welcoming the new year, Reynolds shared a photo of himself in his youth, where he sported a striped polo and more prominently, a floppy bowl-cut hairstyle in a brassy bleach blonde hue, a dated look that was compared by many of Reynolds’ followers, to Saved by the Bell‘s inimitable Zack Morris.

Reynolds, however, exercised a healthy sense of humor about it, noting wryly in his caption that he “used to style my hair with a blowtorch.”

Further proof that sometimes even the most awkward of ducklings can become beautiful swans. See Reynolds’ original post below.

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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com