Seán ‘Jacksepticeye’ McLoughlin has explained just how much impact a simple birthday message from Hollywood superstar Ryan Reynolds has had on his outlook on life and his seven-year YouTube career.
The popular Irish gamer has spent the past seven years creating videos and content on YouTube, building up more than 23 million subscribers, but recently he’s been toying with the idea of packing it all in due to “stress.”
All that changed, however, after Sean’s 30th birthday Instagram post drew the attention of Reynolds. It may have been a small moment for the mega-movie star, but it changed so much for McLoughlin.
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Dealing with his ever-increasing popularity, and wondering what he did to deserve it, is not really new for the megastar Irish YouTuber—in November last year, he even admitted he still sometimes “feels like an imposter” in his career.
According to the 30-year-old, however, that all changed after he took stock of everything he’s achieved so far in life following Reynolds’ birthday wishes.
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McLoughlin shared an image of himself and partner Evelien ‘Gab’ Smolders, along with the caption “30 feels good!” Soon after, Reynolds shared a simple birthday message, and it rocked the YouTuber’s world.
“Ryan Reynolds himself actually Instagram commented on my post, which is the wildest sh*t ever. He’s such a nice dude, I love him. I also can’t believe that this is the timeline that I live in, where this happened,” Jacksepticeye said.
“Can you f**king believe that? How crazy is that? I’m not going to complain about anything ever again. Life is too good. Life has given me more than it should have already. It’s at this point where I ask ‘when is this simulation going to turn off?’”
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McLoughlin admitted he “kind of sat there” and just reflected on everything when he saw Ryan’s comment. The fact a Hollywood superstar had taken time to wish him a happy 30th birthday, he said, made him realize “life is really good.”
As well as that realization, Jacksepticeye also explained the good feeling reminded him “all the trivial things” just simply didn’t matter as much as he thought.
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“I was just reflecting on things, and I started tearing up… It was that moment of clarity where I realized all the trivial things — I’m not going to get into it — but all those tiny things that were pissing me off, none of that matters,” he added.
The related segment in the video below begins at 9:59.
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McLoughlin’s and Reynolds’ paths first crossed in 2018, when the YouTuber linked up with the comedy superstar to play Deadpool (2013) together ahead of the release of the sequel to Reynolds’ superhero franchise.
Then, last year, their pathes crossed against when Jacksepticeye, alongside Mixer star Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, and Australian creator Lannan ‘Lazarbeam’ Eacott, were invited to cameo in the movie star’s 2020 production.
The comedy, helmed by Stranger Things director Shawn Levy and starring Reynolds, Taika Waititi, and Joe Keery, is based around a bank teller (Reynolds) that discovers he’s an NPC in a virtual world similar to Grand Theft Auto.
McLoughlin may have another ‘bombshell’ moment waiting for him once Free Guy finally drops in theatres too, considering not many internet stars have translated their success to a chance to appear on the silver screen, even briefly.
The Reynolds-led comedy flick is set to release in the States on July 1.
