Ryan Reynolds pranks Rob McElhenney with a steamy “Titanic-”inspired birthday present

Wrexham AFC's heart will go on... to League One.

Ryan Reynolds is drawing Rob McElhenney like one of his french girls.

Why celebrate a single occasion with one present when you can mark 3 with a single piece of art? In honor of McElhenney’s birthday, the anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and the promotion of Wrexham AFC — the Welsh soccer club that the actor’s co-own — Reynolds shared a video featuring his latest prank on the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star.

"For his big day this year, I financed an expedition to the ocean floor to retrieve a few bottles of Wrexham Lager — which was actually on that maiden voyage — to use in an epic birthday toast," Reynolds explains in the video, referencing a beer brand that was genuinely served on the Titanic in 1912. But alas, his hunt for the long lost beer didn’t go quite as expected.

"We searched and searched,” Reynolds says over footage of the underwater Titanic vessel. “And while unfortunately we didn't find any drinkable Wrexham Lager, what we did find was even more beautiful..."

This is where Reynolds unveiled the true prank: a hand-drawn portrait of a shirtless McElhenney that bears a striking resemblance to the nude drawing that Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack sketches for Kate Winslet’s Rose in the beloved 1997 disaster film. McElhenney is even wearing the fictional Heart of the Ocean necklace that drives the movie’s plot.

"So join me in celebrating the heart of our Wrexham AFC family by sending Rob all the birthday love we can," Reynolds continued, while slyly encouraging fans not to “embarrass” McElhenney by purchasing the many merch items customized to feature “all of Rob's splendor and soft, delicate chest hair.”

Reynolds also revealed that the drawing will be hung in the  Tŷ Pawb Gallery in Wrexham — an art museum in the Welsh city — among genuine works of art. Which, of course, fans shouldn’t bother to visit. "Just do as I am, and simply wish Rob a happy birthday," Reynolds concluded. "We'll see you in League One."

The friends and Wreham co-owners have made a habit of giving one another elaborate prank campaigns for the other’s birthday. In 2022, the Deapool actor unveiled a memorial urinal in McElhenney’s honor and the following year, gifted him a song to finally teach people how to pronounce his surname. McElhenney responded by emblazoning a hideous version of Reynolds’s face onto a blimp and later, gifting him the Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park, a real park in the heart of Wrexham, Wales. It featured actual green lanterns as a reference to one of Reynolds' most-maligned movies, and former Parks and Recreation star Chris Pratt was recruited to make things more official.

This year's birthday prank comes on the heels of Wrexham AFC scoring a 6-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers, marking their official promotion to League One, the second-highest division of the English Football League.

"A few years ago, if you had told me I would be crying tears of joy over a football match taking place in North Wales, you would be @robmcelhenney,” Reynolds joked in an April 13 Instagram post, celebrating the team's win. “Congrats to @wrexham_afc and to my co-chairman in crime. Double up the town! This is the ride of our lives."

You can watch Reynolds celebrate the promotion and McElhenney’s birthday in the video above.

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