Ryan Reynolds reflects on his relationship with his father after Parkinson’s disease

Ryan Reynolds has recently revealed his relationship with his father, James Chester Reynolds was challenging after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In a new interview with PEOPLE, Ryan’s father, who passed away in 2015 due to this disease, was a former police officer and a present dad for his children before he was diagnosed with the disease.

“My dad’s losing his mind. My father was really slipping down a rabbit hole where he was struggling to differentiate between reality and fiction,” recalled the Deadpool & Wolverine star.

Ryan told the outlet, “There would be conspiratorial webs that he would spin about ‘this is happening’ and ‘these people might be after me’ or ‘this person is out to get me’.”

Following his father’s demise, the Free Guy actor reflected on his relationship more deeply.

“I wasn’t really accepting my own responsibility. It was very easy for me to dine off the idea that my father and I do not see eye to eye on anything and that an actual relationship with him is impossible,” he explained.

Ryan noted, “As I’m older now, I look back at it, and I think of it more as that was my unwillingness at the time to meet him where he was.”

“I could have maybe been there with him toward the end, and I wasn’t. He and I just drifted apart, and that’s something I’ll live with forever,” stated the Green Lantern actor.

Elaborating on healing from his father’s death, Ryan added, “The healing for me really comes more through my relationship with my own kids, while taking some of the things from my father that are of immense value.”