“If you can’t take a punch in this business, you’re in trouble,” said the actor

Ryan Reynolds thinks Martha Stewart’s assessment of him is perfectly valid.

The Deadpool & Wolverine star was named The Hollywood Reporter‘s Producer of the Year, and at one point in a wide-ranging interview, Reynolds addressed Stewart, 83, recently going viral for saying he is “not so funny” in real life.

When asked if his feelings were hurt by the comments, Reynolds, 48, said, “If you can’t take a punch in this business, you’re in trouble.”

“But why would people ever assume the way they see you on camera is how you’re going to be in real life? Right? You’re just a person,” the actor added. “But I do it too. I’m a fan of people and I love certain people’s work, and I’m thinking when I meet them, I want to see little glimpses of that.”

Reynolds said, “I don’t think what happened was designed to hurt anyone. That was just an incredibly valid observation that someone made.”

He admitted that “lots of people would say I’m very serious if they met me,” explaining, “I can’t imagine entering any room in which I don’t intimately know the people, where I suddenly kind of turn on and perform.”

The IF actor then opened up about living with anxiety, sharing that he has “always been much more shy around people that I don’t know unless I’m stepping out on a stage.”

“I’ve always been one to be very quiet, and part of that is anxiety I’ve carried with me since I was a kid,” said Reynolds. “And at times it’s very normal for anyone and everyone to experience anxiety. Some people’s anxiety, and I include mine, has a tendency to go down a slippery slope that needs to be managed to some degree.”

While on Bilt Rewards’ November Rent Free game show, Stewart was asked by Bilt CEO and founder Ankur Jain which celebrities she thought respondents had named as the most fun to hang out with.

“… Ryan Reynolds, is he one of those?” she asked, before adding: “And you want to know something? He’s not so funny in real life. No, he’s not so funny. He’s very serious.” Stewart admitted she “would take Ryan off [the list], and I would put in somebody else.”

“He’s a good actor,” she said of Reynolds, a neighbor in Upstate New York. “He can act funny, but he isn’t funny. Maybe he can get to be funny again. … I’m going to get in trouble.”

Reynolds later playfully responded on X, writing, “I’d disagree with her. But I tried that once. The woman is unexpectedly spry. She really closed the gap after a mile or so.”