TORONTO – Canadian actors Ryan Reynolds and Catherine O’Hara were honored with the President’s Performing Arts Award on Friday and received moving songs during a ceremony that brought tears and laughter.
Former Barenaked Ladies member Steven Page performed an original song, “Canada Love You Back” for Reynolds and thanked him for supporting Canadian causes while making fun of the actor.
In his reaction video, the Vancouver-born star of the “Deadpool” series can be seen smiling and wiping away tears as he watches the memorial service.
“Oh, out of all the Canadian Ryans, you have to be in our top three!” Page sang, causing Reynolds to chuckle.
Representatives from various charities and initiatives Reynolds has supported, such as Reconciliation Canada and Food Bank of Canada, also appeared in the honor, as did Canadian actor William Shatner and former Vancouver Canucks players Stan Smyl, Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin.
“That was amazing. I mean, it made me cry. Well, I guess I made it.” Reynolds said at the end of the memorial service.
On Twitter, Reynolds also thanked Page for the honor and also thanked Governor-General Mary May Simon for the honor.
“I’m so glad I don’t have to die to experience something like this. I’m so emotional right now,” Reynolds tweeted on Saturday.
For “Schitt’s Creek” star Catherine O’Hara, Canadian actor and musician Noah Reid performed an emotional piano cover of “A Case of You,” a song written in 1971 by Joni. Mitchell, another legendary Canadian icon.
O’Hara can be seen in the video reacting her to tears almost immediately as the song begins. The tears then quickly turned to laughter mid-song as Reid, who also starred in “Schitt’s Creek”, donned colorful wigs throughout the performance, to honor the hairdos. colorful imitation of O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” character. wear in the show.
“He’s clearly the favorite. I don’t blame him! Very flattering,” O’Hara said at the end of the performance, before thanking Reid and wiping more tears.
O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” co-star Dan Levy also shared the video on Instagram and congratulated her on receiving the award.
“I’ll be watching this forever. Congratulations, dear Catherine!” he say.
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