TORONTO -- It’s the holiday prank that just keeps giving—Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds is using an ugly Christmas sweater he was tricked into wearing last year by fellow actors Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal to help fundraise for Toronto’s SickKids Foundation.
According to a social media post, the Vancouver-born star has pledged to match all donations made to the foundation “by the time Santa arrives,” or before midnight on Dec. 24, up to $100,000.
To push the message out, Reynolds created an animated video for the foundation, showing the story behind the sweater that gained him so much attention last year.
In the video, a red and green sweater with a large bow hangs in the window of a shop. Time passes, and no one buys this “fun holiday sweater”—that is until a man walks in with a party invitation that specifies “fun” attire.
When the man arrives at the party, his friends are dressed in normal clothing and proceed to laugh and point at him.
The video emulates a real-life situation Reynolds found himself in last December. The 42-year-old posted a photograph of himself wearing a sweater with a large, shiny gold bow, standing between Jackman and Gyllenhaal, who were both laughing while Reynolds himself stood there with a glum expression.
In the caption, Reynolds said that he was told it was a holiday-themed sweater party.
The promotional video for SickKids ends with a number of photographs of young kids at the hospital wearing the sweater and smiling or laughing.
“Every holiday story deserves a magical ending,” the video says. “Help Ryan. Join the fight.”
The actor even reunited with Jackman for the campaign, but in this photograph, it was Jackman donning the holiday-themed outfit.
“I can’t believe I agreed to wear the matching underwear too,” Jackman said in a social media post.
This isn’t the first time Reynolds has raised money for the SickKids Foundation.
The “Deadpool” actor took part in a fantasy football league in September to win a chunk of $100,000 for the foundation.
