America is still trying to process the latest Entertainment Weekly cover featuring the fur-dusted torso of Ryan Reynolds -- ab for ab, the most perpetually shirtless above-the-title actor in Hollywood, short of Matthew McConaughey. It was an act of blatant beefcakeism from a pop culture periodical not typically known for such tactics, further compounded by some suggestive snorkel-fiddling by the subject.
Deep inside the issue's 11 jam-packed pages, meanwhile, the The Proposal star admits that he is uncomfortable with his "sex symbol status":
Really embarrassing. I think I fear more than anything just sounding like a complete a-hole when I have to answer that question. If you take any of that seriously, you need to be euthanized, ASAP.
First of all, this is a 100% no-kill shelter, so there will be no putting down of narcissistic Hollywood leading men going on here. Besides, Ryan has proven how much he doesn't take his obsessively crunched, semi-undressed and wet body seriously. Just look at the other three EW covers for which he's posed: You'll notice he has a silly toy watergun in each. If that isn't totally goofing on his image, we don't know what is!
ยท Ryan Reynolds Shirtless For EW: Calls Sex Symbol Status "Really Embarrassing" [HuffPo]