Ryan Gosling's got game: Mapping the Canadian actor's careful trajectory to Oscar royalty
With a career full of gaps and unusual choices, the La La Land star cuts a rare figure in his generation
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling seems poised to join the ranks of Hollywood's superstars with his Oscar-nominated role in La La Land and some highly anticipated, big budget films on the way.
But the publicity-leery Gosling has forged a careful career path, built on unusual role choices and avoidance of overexposure. Here are eight seminal moments that made Gosling the (reluctant) movie star he is today:
1993: The All New Mickey-Mouse Club
A 12-year-old, London, Ont.-born, Cornwall, Ont.-raised Ryan Gosling is cast in The All New Disney Mickey Mouse Club. The series, filmed in Florida, is short-lived but becomes famous in hindsight for churning out some of the biggest entertainers of a generation: Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell.
In a segment for CBC News, a pre-teen Gosling gushes about the talent of the other child performers on the show and attributes his inclusion to "luck" — the beginnings of a modest public persona he would exhibit for years to come.
1999: Young Hercules
A tall and skinny 17-year-old Gosling might not have the brawn of the son of Zeus, but in this teen series, he gets to flex his leading-man muscles. Award-winning material it is not, but the series is highly publicized due to the 1990s craze for low-budget superhero fare (Xena: The Warrior Princess, Hercules). The series' remarkably ambitious filming schedule is now studied in film production courses: four episodes were filmed at a time instead of one — a lesson in discipline and endurance for young Gosling.
2004: The Notebook
"If you're a bird, I'm a bird." Gosling flaps his arms like a bird for co-star Rachel McAdams in The Notebook and begets a flock of devoted female fans along the way. The box office success of the film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel is also helped by the explosive chemistry of Gosling and fellow Canadian McAdams.
While they allegedly fought on set, the two became an on-again, off-again couple that fans obsessed over for years. Gosling had since called McAdams "one of the great loves of his life." But one thing he was clearly not as in love with was the press's obsession with his relationships.
2006-2007: Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl
How do you follow your newly minted status as Hollywood's young male romantic lead? If you're Ryan Gosling, you do it by choosing roles in little-publicized indie movies, where you play a drug-addicted high school teacher and an overweight guy in love with a mail-order sex doll. Half Nelson and Lars and the Real Girl are not the stuff Gosling's fans likely dreamed of, but they reminded the critics he could act. Half Nelson gets Gosling his first Oscar nomination.
2008-2010: Hiatus and Hey Girl!
Paradoxically, Gosling's popularity is growing even in the years he's not working. His hiatus seems to be part circumstance — he lost a part in The Lovely Bones because he gained too much weight for director Peter Jackson's liking — and part desire to rest and reassess his career. But Gosling's fans are busy perpetuating his image as a modern, intellectual woman's sex symbol.
- Hey girl, the Ryan Gosling feminist meme makes an impact
- Ryan Gosling hotline helps fans through hunk's hiatus
The website "F--k Yeah Ryan Gosling" launches the wildly popular "Hey Girl" meme, where Gosling's sleepy-eyed face utters such romantic sentences as "Hey girl, you know what this sweater is made of? It's boyfriend material."
2010-2011: Blue Valentine, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Drive, The Ides of March
Seemingly refreshed and refocused by his break, Gosling has two remarkably prolific years that remind the fans and critics of his range. In 2010, he plays opposite Michelle Williams in the heartbreaking anatomy-of-a-breakup Blue Valentine.
Then in 2011, there's the drama-comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love; stylish and dark Drive, in which he plays a driver for the mob; and political drama The Ides of March, where Gosling holds his own opposite George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. Both Crazy, Stupid, Love and The Ides of March have strong ensemble casts — something Gosling has said he prefers to starring roles.
2011-2016: The Place Beyond the Pines and Gosling, the family man
While filming 2011's The Place Beyond the Pines, Gosling falls for his leading lady once again: Eva Mendes. But this time around, he's much cagier about keeping the details of his private life private. The two actors never appear on red carpets together and even Mendes's pregnancies with the couple's two daughters are kept surprisingly quiet in an age of paparazzi-driven "bump watches."
Still, in the years to come, Gosling's apparent contentment in his private life seeps into many of his interviews, where he only ever refers to Mendes as his "lady" or his "partner."
2016-2017: La La Land and Blade Runner 2049
Gosling's career comes full circle: the moves and musical ability that landed him his spot on The Mickey Mouse Club allow him to put on a convincing performance as a jazz pianist in the musical La La Land. An homage to Old Hollywood, the film, co-starring Emma Stone, is hailed by critics and fans alike, garnering Gosling his second Oscar nomination.
- A brief history of Canadian actors at the Oscars
- Blade Runner 2049 teaser pits Harrison Ford vs. Ryan Gosling
It looks like there are more high-wattage projects in the works: he's already filmed his part in the much-anticipated sequel to Blade Runner, directed by fellow Canadian Denis Villeneuve and coming out this fall. And in a move that could be interpreted as Gosling's acceptance of his movie-star status, he signs a deal with CAA, the agency of Hollywood's heavyweights.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
