Rob McElhenney recruits Chris Pratt for Ryan Reynolds' “Parks and Recreation”-themed birthday gift
Not every prank benefits the community this much. Over the past year, Wrexham AFC co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have engaged in an escalating war of prank gifts, usually to mark each other's birthdays. But this year, McElhenney marked the occasion of Reynolds' 47th birthday (which means yes, the Deadpool star is a Libra cusp) with a whole park — and recruited former Parks and Recreation star Chris Pratt to really sell it.
Maximum Effort/YouTube Rob McElhenney and Chris Pratt
The Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park will be a real, refurbished park in the heart of Wrexham, Wales. McElhenney has apparently been working with the Wrexham County Borough Council to beautify the park, which will be filled with "open green spaces, pop-up restaurants, and movie screenings." Plus, in a reference to one of Reynolds' most-maligned movies, there will be actual green lanterns throughout the park.
"Yes, this is a real park — or at least it will be soon," reads the foremost text on the official website for the cheekily-named Parks & Wrex.
Obviously, a significant amount of work went into this park project, and it deserves more than to just be a birthday prank. So the Reynolds name probably won't stay for long. The website also states, "We're renaming it. Probably something Welsh, not Canadian."
The prank war began this time last year, when McElhenney marked Reynolds' previous birthday by emblazoning a blimp with a hilariously ugly version of his co-owner's face. Reynolds got his revenge in April, when he gifted McElhenney both a custom birthday song and a personally dedicated urinal.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Ryan Reynolds
McElhenney and Reynolds have been detailing their journey as co-owners of the Welsh soccer team in the ongoing TV series Welcome to Wrexham, now in its second season on FX.
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