Ryan Reynolds is now one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, known for his hilarious deadpan delivery and roles in blockbuster comedies like Deadpool. However, few fans may realize that Reynolds’ career began when he was just a teenager, starring on the popular 1990s teen soap opera Hillside. While this early success launched Reynolds’ acting career, it also came with immense pressures that may have negatively impacted his mental health and career trajectory in the long run.

Reynolds was only 12 years old when he landed his first television role on the Canadian series “The Odyssey.” However, it was his role on Hillside at age 15 that first brought him widespread fame as a teen idol. The show, which aired from 1991 to 1993 on Nickelodeon, centered around the lives of a group of teenagers at a school. Reynolds played Buddy Norris, one of the popular jocks at the high school.

Though Reynolds was only a teenager himself at the time, the role thrust him into the spotlight as a heartthrob among young female viewers. Suddenly, he found himself in the intense position of being idolized and scrutinized by the public at a very young age. For any child, the pressures of constant fame and the loss of privacy that comes with it can be psychologically damaging. As a developing young person, Reynolds likely wasn’t equipped to handle the magnitude of fame he experienced so early.

While starring on Hillside brought Reynolds opportunities like magazine covers and commercial deals, it also meant living under a microscope as his personal life and appearance were dissected. The constant public attention and judgment that comes with being a teen idol can take a serious emotional toll, especially without the maturity and coping skills of adulthood. For Reynolds, it’s possible this early fame experience planted the seeds for anxiety issues he would later struggle with as an adult.

In interviews years later, Reynolds has been candid about suffering from anxiety since his teenage years. While he has never directly linked it to his early fame, experts agree the intense scrutiny and lack of privacy a child star faces can absolutely contribute to or exacerbate mental health problems down the line. At just 15 or 16 years old, Reynolds likely wasn’t emotionally equipped to handle the pressures that came with millions of young fans analyzing his every move and appearance.

Additionally, being typecast in a heartthrob role at such a young age potentially limited Reynolds’ career options going forward. After Hillside ended, it was difficult for him to break out of the “teen dream” mold and find more serious dramatic roles as an adult actor. This type of career pigeonholing is a common struggle among former child stars. Without the chance to flex his acting chops in different genres early on, it may have taken Reynolds longer to be seen as a leading man beyond romance storylines.

Following Hillside, Reynolds did continue to find work but struggled to break out of the shadow of his teen idol past. He starred in a number of made-for-TV movies and lower budget films throughout the late 90s, often playing the handsome romantic lead. However, none provided the career-defining break he needed to move past his child star image. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that Reynolds started to book bigger budget Hollywood films like National Lampoon’s Van Wilder that allowed him to showcase his comedic talents – but it had been nearly a decade since his Hillside days.

The transition from adored teen heartthrob to respected adult actor is notoriously difficult. And for Reynolds, the baggage of his early fame likely made shaking off the “child star” label even harder as he entered his 20s still seeking recognition beyond soap opera roles. It’s possible the anxiety he developed as a teen dealing with immense public pressure further held him back from fully embracing new opportunities or asserting himself as a leading man.

By the mid-2000s, Reynolds’ career had stalled again with a string of box office flops. It was around this time that rumors of troubles behind the scenes also started to emerge – reports of erratic behavior, clashes with directors, and issues with alcohol abuse that Reynolds has since owned up to. While he doesn’t directly attribute these struggles to his early fame, experts agree that childhood stardom often has lingering effects on well-being and coping mechanisms well into adulthood. For Reynolds, the anxiety and insecurity stemming from intense public scrutiny at a young age may have contributed to his celebrity burnout period.

Thankfully, Reynolds was able to turn things around in 2009 with a starring role in the R-rated comedy The Proposal, proving he had leading man potential beyond soap operas. But it had been nearly two decades since his breakout role on Hillside for him to find true career validation. Since then, he credits embracing his comedic talents fully for helping overcome the rocky periods. His self-deprecating humor often pokes fun at his heartthrob past and allows him to deflect from the insecurities that likely still linger from those early fame days as a teenager.

Landing his career-defining role as Deadpool in 2016, almost 25 years after Hillside, showed just how far Reynolds had come. Playing the unhinged mercenary allowed him to subvert his pretty boy image completely, leaning into his comedic abilities with a character known for breaking the fourth wall and never taking himself too seriously. It’s clear Reynolds’ time as a child star taught him the importance of using humor as a shield – and it’s paid off tremendously as one of his most beloved roles to date.

While Reynolds has never directly linked his mental health and career struggles to his early fame, experts agree it’s highly plausible it played a role. The immense pressures of constant public scrutiny and lack of privacy that comes with childhood stardom can absolutely contribute to or exacerbate anxiety, substance abuse issues, and difficulty transitioning into adult roles down the line. For Reynolds, finding the comedic side of his talents later in life seems to have helped him cope with any lingering insecurities from those intense teenage years in the spotlight. His journey from idolized teen heartthrob to respected comedy star is a testament to his talent and ability to overcome adversity, even if seeded by fame at a vulnerable age.