Ryan Reynolds surprised by 'how vulnerable people of Wrexham are with their stories'

Ryan Reynolds has said he is always surprised by "how forthcoming and vulnerable" the people of Wrexham are in sharing their stories on television.

The Hollywood actor, 47, co-owns the Welsh football club Wrexham AFC with his friend, 'It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia' star Rob McElhenney.

Their docuseries about the city and football club, Welcome To Wrexham, is returning for a third series that will follow the team after they claimed the National League title last year and subsequently returned to the English Football League (EFL).

Reflecting on the people who feature on the show, the Deadpool star said: "The thing I’m always most surprised by is how forthcoming and vulnerable a lot of the people are within the town of Wrexham in sharing their stories.

“I think they’re starting to see how meaningful it is to folks all over the world, because so much of good storytelling is allowing people to see themselves reflected in the narrative.

“That’s what the people of Wrexham have really facilitated here. It’s been incredible.”

McElhenney said that season three will feature a lot of the characters that “people already know and want to see”.

“In a similar way to season one and season two, my hope is that people will see themselves reflected back at them in these personal stories,” he said.

The writer and actor, 47, also revealed that the end of the new series will coincide with the end of the football season.

He said: “The most important new aspect of the show is the way we’re going to coincide the end of the documentary season with the end of the football season.

“Last year, there was a big gap between the end of the football season and the beginning of the documentary season.

“A lot of time had elapsed, which made us realise that a lot of the tension was taken away.

“We thought, wow, what an incredible experiment it would be to see if we can line them up so that by the time you got to the end of the documentary series, you were watching the final games of the season.

“We thought about how much more invested the audience would be.”

Reynolds and McElhenney have been widely praised for their investment and involvement in the club, raising the profile of the city and promoting Welsh language and culture.

Their takeover of the club was officially completed in 2021, and series one of their show was released the following year.

Welcome To Wrexham series three will premiere on Disney+ on May 3 in the UK.

The eight-episode season will launch with a double bill followed by a new episode each week.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...