'Deadpool' star Rob Delaney reveals how losing 2-year-old son changed his approach to fame

The death of Rob Delaney’s son, Henry, fundamentally changed the way he approaches Hollywood, prompting the “Deadpool” star to limit his workload and spend as much time as possible at home with his children.

Delaney lost his two-and-a-half-year-old son in 2018 after battling a brain tumor. Henry had been diagnosed with cancer shortly after his 1st birthday.

“I had a son, his name was Henry, and he died, and he’s dead,” he said during an appearance on Ted Danson’s podcast, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” “You know, does he live on inside of me and in the smile of my wife and in the gaze of my other boys who are alive and vibrant? Yes, he does. But he died, and I don’t like to sugarcoat that, you know. And that affected how I work now.”

For Delaney, that shift in priorities is inseparable from the grief he continues to carry.

“That’s a big part of me is metabolizing that the pain of the loss of Henry and then trying to be smart enough to let that inform how I do my career, because I think it would be a real shame if that happened and I didn’t change how I work, you know,” he explained. “That would be folly.”

Delaney spent years working in stand-up before gaining a major following on Twitter, where his offbeat comedy helped turn him into one of the platform’s earliest breakout comedians. In 2012, he was named “Funniest Person on Twitter” at Comedy Central’s Comedy Awards.

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

His biggest career breakthrough came with “Catastrophe,” the acclaimed comedy series he co-created, co-wrote and starred in alongside Sharon Horgan from 2015 to 2019.

Some of Delaney’s biggest roles include “Deadpool 2”, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Dying for Sex.”