Ryan Gosling Biography

Ryan Thomas Gosling was born on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario. He spent his school years in Burlington, Ontario with his older sister Mandi and their parents, Thomas and Donna Gosling, who divorced while he was young.

As a child, Gosling faced a number of social struggles. He was bullied throughout school and reportedly had no friends until his early teenage years. In the first grade, the movie First Blood inspired him to bring steak knives into school and throw them at his peers, resulting in a suspension. He was later diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and placed in a class for special-needs students. Gosling’s mother removed him from the class to be homeschooled.

Despite his social troubles, Gosling was a born performer and began acting out at an early age. He sang at weddings with his sister, performed with his uncle’s Elvis Presley tribute act, and joined a local ballet company. He also e attempted to alter his voice to sound tough like Marlon Brando.

Ryan Gosling Bio: ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ and Early Career

In 1993, Gosling auditioned for the revival of Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club. He signed a two-year contract and moved to Orlando, Florida with the other Mouseketeers, including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Gosling has described his television debut as the best two years of his life. He reports growing particularly close to Timberlake, whose mother became Gosling’s legal guardian once his own mother had to return to Canada for work. Timberlake claims that Gosling was one of the few Mouseketeers he knew would be a success.

After The Mickey Mouse Club was canceled in 1995, Gosling returned home and appeared in television shows such as Are You Afraid Of The Dark? and Goosebumps. At age 17, he dropped out of high school to pursue acting full-time. In 1998, Gosling moved to New Zealand to film the show Young Hercules. After a year, however, he stopped enjoying the series and longed to play a broader variety of roles than it afforded him. He quit the show and the television world altogether.

At 19, Gosling decided to transition to more serious film. He faced difficulties finding work given the stigma attached to child roles, particularly after being dropped by his agent. In 2000, Gosling secured a supporting role in the now-classic film Remember The Titans and earned high praise as a Jewish neo-Nazi in the 2001 movie The Believer. In 2002, Gosling acted in the film Murder By Numbers and began dating his costar Sandra Bullock. Despite the film’s negative critical reception, Gosling’s performance was widely approved

Ryan Gosling Bio: ‘The Notebook’

Gosling’s mainstream movie success began in 2004 with the Nicholas Sparks film The Notebook. Gosling co-starred with future girlfriend Rachel McAdams until the two developed feelings for each other. They dated from 2005-2007 and reunited briefly in the summer of 2008. Gosling has called McAdams one of the great loves of his life.

Since The Notebook, Gosling has appeared in dozens of major films, including Half-Nelson ( earning him an Academy Award nomination); Lars And The Real Girl; Blue Valentine; Crazy, Stupid, Love; The Ides Of March; The Place Beyond The Pines; and Only God Forgives. Gosling was signed on as the lead for The Lovely Bones but dropped out the day before filming was set to begin. In 2013, Gosling wrote, directed, and produced his first movie The fantasy-noir film, How To Catch A Monster, featured Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Smith and Eva Mendes.

Ryan Gosling Bio: Exclusive Interview on ‘Blue Valentine’

Gosling’s behind-the-scenes work for Blue Valentine was unusual, as money issues forced him to sign onto the film four years prior to production In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Gosling discussed how he and costar Michelle Williams prepared for their roles in Blue Valentine.

“Michelle kind of prepared her character for six years, and I prepared mine for four, and we never really talked about it. I think I had dinner with Michelle like once during that whole time period. We never talked about the characters in the film,” Gosling told Uinterview. “So what’s happening in the movie is when our characters are getting to know one another, it’s really us — we’re getting to know each other’s characters at that time as well. And we only did one take of everything, so it’s all happening for the first time for the audience as well.”

In addition to budgetary concerns, Gosling explained other problems came to light upon the release of Blue Valentine. The film received an initial rating of NC-17, attributed to sexual content. Gosling called this phenomenon a “double standard” between the genders. He explained that the film received the NC-17 rating due to a relatively explicit sex scene in which his character performs oral sex on Williams’ character.

“I think that if there’s violence involved with the sexuality, towards women, the MPAA seems to considerate it entertainment, and then if there’s love involved in the sexuality, it’s pornographic,” Gosling told uInterview. “They’re trying to, I think – whether they’re intentionally doing it or not – they’re controlling the way that women are perceived sexually. And it seems to be a double standard because there’s lots of oral sex scenes, towards men that get R ratings, but the fact that there’s a woman on the receiving end of it . . . suddenly it’s pornographic.”

Gosling revealed that much of Blue Valentine was improvised.one of the more harrowing incidences where he found himself on the wrong side of the fence on the Brooklyn Bridge. “I wasn’t thinking; that was the problem, you know?” he admitted to uInterview. “Derek, the director, said to Michelle, ‘Whatever you do, don’t tell him your secret; I don’t care what it is.’ And he said to me, ‘I don’t care what you have to do, get her to tell you the secret. Action.’”

Gosling continued, “And hours go by, and she’s not telling me, and there’s no way to get her to tell me, and suddenly the sun goes down, and we’re stealing the shot anyway. We don’t have a permit to shoot on the Brooklyn Bridge; we’re never coming back. And I gotta get this secret. So, I don’t know what happened. I found myself climbing the Brooklyn Bridge, and I’m on the other end of the fence, and I’m looking down at the water, and I’m realizing that Derek brainwashed me and Michelle’s trying to kill me.”

Check out the full interview at the top of this page.

Ryan Gosling Bio: Later Career

In 2015, Gosling received four nominations for his performance in the comedy The Big Short. A year later, his acting in The Nice Guys (2016) scored him four more nominations, along with the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Comedic Performance.

Also in 2016 came the record-shattering La La Land, which won six Oscars and eight Oscar nominations. The musical earned seven additional Golden Globe Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, including multiple wins and nominations for Gosling himself. The actor plays the male lead opposite Emma Stone in La La Land and sings three songs on the soundtrack, most notably “City of Stars.” In the months prior to filming, Gosling learned to play the piano so he could record the film’s musical scenes live.

Gosling’s success did not stop with La La Land. He has otherwise been nominated for multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards, among others. Gosling has won several Teen Choice Awards, most notably for his performance in The Notebook. He received a Chlotrudis Award and a Satellite Award for his role in Blue Valentine; an Irish Film and Television Award for Drive; a Stockholm Film Festival Award and a Seattle International Film Festival Award for Half Nelson; and a Russian Guild of Film Critics Award for The Believer.

In 2017, Gosling was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Best Actor in Blade Runner 2049. This sequel to Harrison Ford’s 1982 Blade Runner was highly anticipated and received a score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gosling starred most recently as Neil Armstrong in the coveted 2018 film First Man.

Gosling is currently preparing for the debut of his new movie, Barbie, which will be released in July 2023. Directed by Greta Gerwig, Gosling stars as Ken in this live-action portrayal of America’s most beloved line of dolls, acting alongside Margot Robbie and Will Ferrell. The film is already one of the most highly anticipated of the summer and is projected to do very well at the box office.

Ryan Gosling Bio: Music And Charity

In addition to acting, Gosling also performs music. He is an accomplished jazz guitarist in Dead Man’s Bones, his duo with friend Zach Shields, whom he met while he was dating McAdams and Shields was dating her sister. The band released its only album, self-titled, in 2009. Two years prior, Gosling released a solo recording entitled “Put Me In The Car.” He also sang “You Always Hurt The Ones You Love” for the Blue Valentine soundtrack.

Gosling has been a major supporter of charitable organizations such as PETA, Invisible Children Inc., and the Enough Project. He also aided in clean-up efforts post-Hurricane Katrina and has flown to Darfur refugee camps in Chad. In 2008, Gosling spoke at Campus Progress’s National Conference to discuss the sociopolitical issues at stake in Darfur.

Ryan Gosling Bio: Personal Life and Dating History

Gosling has dated several Hollywood actresses, including Bullock, McAdams and Blake Lively, and He is also rumored to have dated Kat Dennings and Olivia Wilde in the past. Gosling has been in a relationship with Eva Mendes since 2011, and they now have two children.

In 2005, Gosling was arrested and pleaded “no contest” for speeding, though he was originally charged with driving under the influence. He received two years probation and was ordered to pay $849 in fines.

Though he currently resides in New York City, Gosling co-owns a Beverly Hills Moroccan restaurant called Tagine. He spent a great deal of his own money buying and renovating the restaurant and now oversees its menus.

Ryan Gosling Bio: Quotes

“I always wanted to entertain. When I was 6, a scrawny, scrawny kid, I’d get in my red speedo and do muscle moves. I actually thought I was muscular. I didn’t know everyone was laughing at me.”

“You know how sometimes department stores have these things where, if you win, you get 10 minutes and go in and take anything you want from the store? That’s basically what I’m doing. I’m running in and just trying to grab as many characters as possible before they pull the plug on me.”

“I try not to make too many movies. I get sick of myself, so I can imagine how everyone else feels.”

“There is this idea in Hollywood, and I’ve seen it work for people, where the unspoken rule is ‘Do two for them and one for yourself.’ And that’s kind of considered a fact. I’ve never really found that to be true for me. I’ve gotten more opportunities out of working on things I believed in than I ever did on things that weren’t special to me.”

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Updated June 2019 by Jen Curran

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