Ryan Reynolds knew just how to celebrate the birthday of his Wrexham AFC co-owner, Rob McElhenney: teach the world how to pronounce his last name. In fact, he drummed up a whole song and music video for the occasion, which you can watch below now.
The two-minute song is available to stream on various platforms and features the Wrexam Celtic Chorus as well as McElhenney’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” co-stars Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olson. McElhenney is also well known for creating and starring in Apple TV+’s “Mythic Quest.”
“A birthday card might’ve been easier,” Reynolds admitted in the video’s caption on Twitter. “Happy birthday, @rmcelhenney.”
He additionally teased in follow-up tweet that it “would be a real shame if this became a @wrexham_afc Racecourse chant.”
Reynolds kicks the song off by singing about McElhenney’s pretty, recognizable face that “you know you know.”
“Pronouncing all those Ns and Es and Hs can perplex ’em,” Reynolds sings in the clip. “So here’s a little birthday gift from all your mates in Wrexham.”
Rhyming the “McEl” portion with “tackle” and “henney” with “penny,” Reynolds and crew instruct the correct pronunciation versus the incorrect ones with other rhymes that pair “prick’ll” with “McEl” and “rainy” with “hainey.” Clips of people like Adam DeVine mispronouncing the surname accompany this instruction, as well.
“While ways to massacre and mispronounce it, there are many,” the chorus continues. “If there was doubt, now there won’t be any. So get the name correct and show the man some damn respect.”
A clip of the song’s writers, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, belting out the song alongside Reynolds builds up to its climax. It marks a reunion between the Oscar-winning songwriters and Reynolds, who previously teamed up for the Apple TV+ film “Spirited” with musician Steven Page.
The end of the birthday song clip shows a chalkboard tally scoring two for RR, Ryan Reynolds, and one for Rob McElhenney.
“Coincidentally, I tore my voice to shreds during Wrexham’s Monday match and spoke to @stevenpage for advice,” Reynolds wrote. “He gave me some good tips!”
In response, McElhenney tweeted, “This is…. I mean… I don’t…. Wow.”
