Rick Moranis returns to acting after two decades, thanks to Ryan Reynolds

Thanks to Ryan Reynolds, actor Rick Moranis has returned to the screen after decades away. Well, kind of. Moranis, who starred in such films as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, before taking a step back from acting, now is appearing in a commercial for Mint Mobile with Reynolds. 

Reynolds has an ownership stake in the budget wireless company, and begins the ad by introducing Moranis and making a comparison with Mint’s new $30 unlimited plan.

“It’s hard to believe Mint Mobile has gone so long without an unlimited plan, so to introduce it, we brought in an actor we’ve all gone too long without,” Reynolds says as Moranis walks out, looking awkward and confused. 

When Moranis asks if he should talk about the service, Reynolds says no, he just brought him out because he’s a “huge fan.”

Moranis himself doesn’t seem hip to mobile-phone technology, admitting, “I’ve really got to get a phone.”

In a statement obtained by People, Reynolds praised his fellow Canadian. “Like many Canadians and humans, I adore and worship Rick Moranis,” Reynolds said. “From Strange Brew to Ghostbusters to Spaceballs to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, his performances and lines are burned into my brain and heart. We asked Rick to do this eight days before our shoot kind of on a lark but after a few emails and a conversation, he agreed. And it was wonderful. “

One fan thought Reynolds could have cited one of Moranis’ films, tweeting, “Honey, I shrunk the phone bill.”

Reynolds’ response? “Thank you! I wasn’t legally allowed to say that.”

Thank you! I wasn’t legally allowed to say that.

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 9, 2020

People notes that Moranis stepped back from acting in 1991 after his wife, Ann Belsky, died of breast cancer, but never formally retired from the business. In 2018, he reprised his famous role in Star Wars parody film Spaceballs on the TV show The Goldbergs, but his last major film role came more than two decades ago in 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. But he’s planning a return. 

In February, actor Josh Gad tweeted that Moranis will star with him in the movie Shrunk, a revisit of that Honey, I Shrunk The Kids universe, with Gad playing Moranis’ grown-up son from those films.