It’s official! Ryan Reynolds will be appearing on an upcoming episode of “Running Man” (December 22 at 5 p.m. KST). The long-running variety show hosted by Yoo Jae-Suk boasted about the casting coup on Instagram. A series of three photos showed name tags for Reynolds and his “6 Underground” co-stars Melanie Laurent and Adria Arjona.
International fans are eagerly awaiting Reynolds’ “Running Man” debut, because he’s genuinely funny and should fit in well with the cast of regulars. Plus, he already has experience appearing on a Korean variety series. He stunned viewers (in a good way!) when he appeared as a singer on “The King of Mask Singer” last year when he was in South Korea to promote “Deadpool 2.” The actor came out disguised as a unicorn and sang “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie.” He doesn’t have the greatest singing voice, but the judges — assuming he was a Korean guest — praised his pronunciation of the English lyrics.
The Canadian movie star has often talked about his love for South Korea and the entertainers there … especially HyunA. In 2016, he did a photo shoot with the idol for High Cut magazine to promote the first “Deadpool” movie. When the magazine was released, many assumed that HyunA was posing as part of a married couple with a Korean model. But Reynolds made it known that it was indeed him in the Deadpool costume.
He even joked that his wife, the actress Blake Lively, was jealous of his infatuation for HyunA.
Reynolds isn’t the first Western celebrity to appear on a popular Korean show. NBA stars Stephen Curry and his brother, Seth, guested on “Infinite Challenge.” And the Australian group 5 Seconds of Summer had a whole epsiode devoted to them on “YO~! WELCOME TO KOREA!”
But the most famous American actor to appear on “Running Man” previously was Tom Cruise, who brought his “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” co-stars Henry Cavill and Simon Pegg with him to appear on EP. #410. “Running Man” cast member Jeon So-min was thrilled when Cavill selected her to pair up with him for a segment. In general, the trio of actors looked amused — and a little confused — to be on the show, and not just because of the language barrier. Korean variety shows are unlike anything else they’ve ever appeared on. But the movie stars — especially Pegg — turned into little children who wanted to win as much as the cast wanted them to and delighted viewers with their enthusiasm.
The producers aren’t revealing what they have in store for Reynolds, who has limited time in Korea before heading to the next country to promote “6 Underground.” When Cruise was a guest star, the cast only had about an hour with him. Here’s hoping that the name tags are indicative of a race between the cast members and the guest stars. And if there were to be a battle between him and Kim Jong-kook, that would be epic!
Are you excited to see Reynolds on “Running Man”? Who has been your favorite western celebrity guest on a Korean variety show? Sound off in the comments section below!
Be sure to follow @GoAwayWithJae, where I tweet about all things Korean.🇰🇷
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