Reynolds started acting when he was a film student at USC in 1975. His then girlfriend actress Shelley Duvall (The Shining, Popeye) invited him to the set of Nashville, and director Robert Altman cast him in the film. More acting work followed, and he would go on to enroll in Los Angeles acting schools, including those run by Lee Strasberg, Milton Katselas, Charles Conrad and Peggy Feurey.