Ryan Reynolds Gets Candid About Genitalia, Green Day & His Wild New Nat Geo Series ‘Underdogs’

Ryan Reynolds is lending his signature voice and wit to National Geographic’s Underdogs. The docuseries shines a light on the unsung heroes in the Animal Kingdom that often get overlooked by the proverbial cool kids in school such as elephants, lions, gorillas, and sharks. Who better to narrate each of the five episodes than Deadpool himself?! Reynolds is no stranger to the recording booth, working on everything from Great Bear Rainforest to The Croods, and let’s not forget, Detective Pikachu. 

Each installment of Underdogs centers on a certain subgroup or overarching theme starting with the June 15 premiere spotlighting  “Superzeroes” and “Terrible Parents” As one would imagine with the Hollywood A-lister involved, this isn’t your typical educational doc. Rather that celebrates the outcasts, the unseen, and species who deserve our love and attention. There’s Barry the Honey Badger, Happy the Hyena, a pistol shrimp that can fire bubbles as hot as the sun and the loveable yet terrifying multi-headed caterpillar. Each has their own, let’s say, endearing qualities. 

It’s Nat Geo, so each episode brings vibrant imagery and never-before-filmed scenes like the first time a film crew had ever entered a special cave in New Zealand. Adding to the experience are the music of award-winning composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Green Day’s “Underdog” serving as the show’s theme. The project comes from Reynolds’ co-owned production company Maximum Effort and Wildstar Films (a Fremantle company). 

Before this wild new show is unleashed, we caught up with EP Reynolds to talk about the making of the project and what makes it stand out. Plus, the Welcome to Wrexham star discusses genitalia, Green Day, and more.

Cinematographer Roger Munns sets up filming equipment on the sea floor to film a hairy frogfish lying in wait. (National Geographic/Jason Isley)

How would you describe your love of animals? Is the family big National Geographic fans at home? 

Ryan Reynolds: Well, yeah. I’m not making this up. We finish National Geographic in that we watch everything. The only one we didn’t make it all the way through was the [Ernest] Shackleton mystery, adventure thing because there was some scary stuff in there. Everything else we love. It’s kind of what we do as a family. My kids will just say “nature show” at night. They want to watch the nature show, which just means National Geographic. We love it.

There is so much to choose from, too. There are these guys that run around chasing these crazy apex predators. My daughters are like, “Did he get hit in the head really hard? Why would he chase this thing? It’s crazy.” This particular show Underdogs  is a kind of white space that I can’t believe nobody has ever done a show about. There is so much material. One season could never possibly cover it all. You could do this for a hundred years. There are just so many underdogs that are fascinating. I was really excited to have something new to offer, and I got to make a show I want to watch. 

You’ve done animated roles and voiceover projects before. What was your approach to this? I don’t know how much improv you did, but there are some really fun lines in there.  Take me through how these recording days went.

“I think a strength you have with experience in this business is you learn that sitting in the audience is the best way to make anything. You really sit back and feel like you’re watching this show in real time. You think about what it is you would like to see at this moment? While that’s easier said than done, it’s by and large the thing in my 40s I have really learned to rely on. That I like joy. I want to see joy that is at the intersection of entertainment or commerce, even though they may be antithetical to each other. I think people want to feel togetherness. That’s why concerts and sports and theatrical and television and these things we can check identity politics at the door and enjoy together. 

That’s something I love doing and being a part of. So, sitting in the ADR booth or studio, yeah some of it is riffing. Some of it is written and scripted, not by me. By these wonderful, incredible and capable writers over at Wildstar. I was thrilled to do it. The first episode was tough because I was in the middle of Deadpool post. I was working 18-hour days, and it was just too much. So, they allowed me to come back and redo the first one where I was just in a way better headspace to go full on. 

A spotted hyena takes an awkward poop. (Credit: National Geographic)

You were part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony for Green Day. As a fan, what was it like having them provide the theme for Underdogs?

This is something I talk about a lot. When you see something amazing or see someone do something amazing that’s somehow in your orbit or someone you could get the message across to, say it. That’s how Wrexham A.F.C. is in my life because of this. I saw Rob McElhenney do some incredible thing on TV. I didn’t know the guy and wrote him a DM that said, “Don’t even write back. I don’t even care. I just want to say what I just saw was phenomenal and amazing and left an impression on me that I’ll never forget.” It was the same with Green Day. You had the tag with Deadpool & Wolverine set to “Good Riddance” or “Time of Your Life” as some people call. That song is so emotional and beautiful and nostalgic. 

I called Billie Joe [Armstrong] after the movie came out and thanked him for licensing the song. I said it was cheating. You could set my colonoscopy to that song and I’d weep. That sparked a friendship as well. He ended up coming out to Wrexham to watch a match. The next thing I knew one of our  producers, Sophia Travaglia, had let me know Green Day was basically doing the theme song. I was like, “What? How is this happening?” Not only a theme song, but an amazing one. I love that jam. 

A male and female proboscis monkey sit on a branch in Sabah on the island of Borneo. (National Geographic/Jason Isley)

What were some of the most surprising or eye-opening species that you discovered? I love how you make them characters within themselves. 

Every episode is chock full of them. I found the nursery web spider to be very interesting. It kills the male after sex. They are like a little dumb, the males. They bring a gift in hopes they won’t die. Personally, I’m thinking that maybe abstinence at this point is okay. If the risk-reward factor is that askew, I don’t know what they’re. If they bring a gift, it’s usually something poorly thought out or executed like a rock, wrapped in web rock. Just dumb-dumb stuff. That was surprising. I loved learning about manatees because I’ve seen them before, but I didn’t know they were so dynamic. Proboscis monkey, I don’t know what kind of genitalia that is, but it looks very painful. That was shocking. I don’t know. There are the ones that shoot slime and freeze their enemy. They are like superheroes. It’s incredible how these underdogs exist in the world and manage to stay alive. 

Do you have a favorite episode? 

I actually think it’s “Terrible Parenting”. That was great. The barnacle geese, their children jump off the ledge shortly after hatching. If they survive, they survive. If they don’t, they don’t. It’s just so absolutely mercenary that I can’t imagine the human equivalent. You anthropomorphize any of these creatures, but think that is genuinely terrible parenting. I love my kids seeing that because they go, “You know something? I’m not going to complain as much anymore. I think we’ve got it pretty good.” 

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You must be a rock star now to your kids that you’re going to have this show that you’re going watch with Dad narrating. Things are getting canceled and we’re not seeing a lot of opportunities for this programming. So, it’s awesome to see National Geographic still around. What is it like for you to see a show like this get greenlit? 

I think I live in a mild panic that resources like National Geographic, which I think are national treasures as I feel the same way with TCM, Turner Classic Movies. They are so important because they bring people together. I think we have fewer and fewer scarce resources in 2025. We have sports, theater, concerts and shows. They are places where we check identity politics at the door and we experience a real sense of togetherness. 

There is a French writer who calls it “collective effervescence”.  I always loved that term because it’s a feeling of when you’re feeling the same thing at the same time in the same room with people. You bond in a way. Having a show to watch that I’m a part of with my family, it’s a privilege. I never take that for granted, not for a second, that I get to do that. That feels like a super power. I’m very grateful to National Geographic for not only making this show, but allowing me to make it with them. 

Underdogs premiere, June 15, 9/8c, National Geographic (Simulcast on ABC and next day on Disney+ and Hulu)

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