Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s stoic demeanours as they stepped up through Wrexham’s main stand to speak may have been influenced by the warm welcome they have received over the past few days.
On Thursday, the local newspapers in North Wales featured them on the front pages. The prominent feature was their spontaneous visit to Turf pub, which borders with the ground. They were treated to endless spirit shots there.
Reynolds said Reynolds, “I’m surprised that we didn’t end on the pitch,”
Ryan Reynolds (right) & Rob McElhenney(left) want a Hollywood end for Wrexham
You wondered if it was too good to be true as you walked past the Mold Road pavement that was closed off on Thursday evening. Security guards were on hand to make sure the pair could get out.
But the most striking aspect of an hour-long talk with the actors was its substance.
The conversation was more serious than the anticipated humor, and it was filled with much more serious resolve.
The incessant drizzle on a grey North Wales morning – it’s sometimes cloudy in Wrexham, but it’s still sunny there – was just as bad as Tuesday night’s first match, a 3-2 loss at Maidenhead in National League.
The Hollywood couple spoke with media at Racecourse Ground, on a rainy Thursday afternoon
The Wrexham owners want the story to be told about a working-class club and a working-class town.
McElhenney’s expression on his face, the member of this pair who seems to have made this mission a personal obsession, told you that he had lived every minute of the 90-minute journey.
Reynolds is so easy-going in his humor that Reynolds’ line “Maidenhead was intense, really intensive” should have been written deadpan. It was straight.
They did not hide the fact that the FX network’s reality TV series, entitled “Reality TV Series”, was theirs. Wrexham, welcomeIt is the reason they are here. Four times, the word “storytelling” was used.
McElhenney stated, “We want to tell a story of a working class club and a working class town.” McElhenney said, “The documentary is a large part of that.”
McElhenney stated that McElhenney had a football epiphany while sitting on the sofa during lockdown. He told his wife: “I want to purchase a football club,” then persuaded Reynolds to go along with him. Netflix series Sunderland ‘Til I DieHe had also struck a chord at that time.
Wrexham has seen more of Sunderland’s postindustrial troubles than Sunderland. The North Wales coalfield is in the same situation as the Brymbo, Shotton and Steelworks.
McElhenney spoke out about reaching to the heart of a working-class struggle that was replicated in the club’s struggle to reach a Football League. It dropped out of the league 13 years ago. Reynolds stated that there was a Cinderella element to the club. “It’s an underdog tale.
McElhenney, Reynolds, and McElhenney want to take the club to the Premier League.
It was not all socio-economic seriousness. Reynolds was once asked what it felt like to be the big dog’.
He replied, “That’s what only my wife calls me.”
Although they can both accept that other National League clubs may come after them, McElhenney felt rival fans talking about McElhenney’s ‘petro-dollars” was a little too much. McElhenney stated that he did not own any oilfields.
Although Wrexham was being talked about as a global force’, it was serious. On Thursday, the pair were introduced to Wrexham’s bid to become the UK’s 2025 City of Culture. They expressed a desire to help. Reynolds would like to take Will Ferrell, his friend, to the Racecourse.
It was a desire that was repeated – despite what others might think – to take the club all the the way to the Premier League.
McElhenney replied, “Couldn’t this theoretically happen? asked McElhenney.
Reynolds added, “Why not dream big?” “If you don’t dream large, you won’t get there, so why not?”
After arriving in Hollywood on Thursday, Reynolds took selfies with his fans outside.
Reynolds, pictured here with fans, accepts that other National League teams will come gunning to get him
It’s easier said than done, it seems. The club’s labors suggest that the Americans’ hopes of promotion this season are not likely to come true. Phil Parkinson is not in danger, however. McElhenney said, “We believe that he is capable.”
Will they still be available when the Wrexham story is done with all its documentary series?
Reynolds replied, “Yes, 100 percent,” McElhenney agreed, saying, “I believe that’s the entire idea.”
“Eventually, the documentary will cease but that club will not cease and neither will we. We’ll be here for as long as they have us.
Hollywood ending or no, it will be a story.