Ryan Reynolds is too busy and too anxious to host the Oscars this year

Ryan Reynolds may not be like most of us in a myriad of ways—he’s a hugely famous movie star who owns multiple companies and a soccer team, to name a few—but he is relatable in one big one: he’s great at making up excuses not to do outside work. Stars… they’re just like us! 

While he and Hugh Jackman have been floated as potential Oscar hosts and Reynolds does say he wants to do it “one day,” it definitely won’t be this year. For him to accept the gig at this phase of his life, he told Deadline, “a lot of things would have to happen that are kind of amazing.” First, “movies like Deadpool & Wolverine, they consume my life.” That’s not a great excuse considering the fact that the film came out three whole months ago, but he currently has at least nine other projects in development (per IMDb), so we can let that one slide. More importantly, “I have four kids, and I want to be there,” he continued. “I want to see them, and they want to see me, and I want to walk into school with them, and I want to be able to be there present.”

For the actor, that presence requires more than just time. “If I were to host something like (the Oscars) as someone who, you know, kind of feels a bit of intense sort of anxiety, I wouldn’t be present mentally,” he continued. “I would be kind of constantly writing in my head, or projecting potentially tragic outcomes on the live stage.” It’s unclear if he’s talking about a slap 2.0 or something more sinister, but one thing is for certain: the search for a host in 2025 is still very much underway.