Hugh Jackman received an unexpected surprise from his friend and Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Ryan Reynolds during the opening night of his concert series at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

On Friday (Jan. 24), the 56-year-old Australian actor launched his sold-out show, From New York, With Love, when Reynolds, 48, playfully interrupted from the audience, stepping up for an impromptu speech.

“I was told this was going to be a comedy version of Les Mis as a one-man show. We all said it was a terrible idea but he carried on. I see he’s duped me once again!” Reynolds joked.

After a few more laughs, Reynolds turned sentimental and shared some heartfelt words about Jackman.

“This was the first major movie star I ever worked with, 16 or 17 years ago on X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” Reynolds recalled, according to People. “And I was young still. I was impressionable. I was expecting going to this movie set with this guy right here, and I didn’t know, I really didn’t know what was gonna happen. … But what I saw was just about the best thing anyone could possibly experience if you’re working your way up in the industry.”

Reynolds continued, “I saw a movie star, a capital M movie star… I saw this gentleman right here walk around that set, and just like here, he knew every single person’s name, even though he was making them up half the time. He showed a kind of courtesy and gentleness and curiosity, and he put value into every single crew member that we were working with.”

The Canadian actor, seated in the center orchestra next to Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, went on to call Jackman “my gotcha for life.”

“I mean it,” Reynolds said. “And I know we were supposed to finish this bit where these two security gentlemen come and they try to take the mic for me — it’s like a struggle, and then they tase me and I go down, and then they hog-tie me and then they put me in the Radio City music garbage dump, and then they just light it on fire. But I wanted to actually just say, I love this man, I care about this man. He is, he is genuinely the best human being I know — and I have 4 children!”

Jackman responded, “I love you, Ryan Reynolds, I love you, man,” before teasing that Reynolds is actually his fifth best friend. He also jokingly added, “Thanks for coming. And thanks for asking for a free ticket, too.”

In October 2024, Jackman enlisted Reynolds for a humorous promo video to announce the Radio City concert series, which launched Friday with musical numbers from his 2017 film The Greatest Showman, as well as his most recent Broadway show, The Music Man. The concert, Jackman’s first concert in five years, also featured songs from Les Misérables and The Boy From Oz.

Originally slated for 12 performances, From New York, With Love was met with overwhelming demand for tickets and has since expanded to 24 shows, running over eight weekends through October.