The Actor's Digest: Ryan Gosling

My first real introduction to the work of Ryan Gosling was in the neo-noir thriller, Drive (2011) directed by Nicholas Winding Refn.

The film centres around a man known as 'The Driver' played by Gosling. It puts the audience in the seat of The Driver's world. Almost literally. Gosling plays this character with such finesse and poise, it makes what he does in the film, (for those who know) almost elegant, so to speak. According to reports Gosling and his co-star, Carey Mulligan who plays The Driver's love interest had many more scripted lines in this film, but deliberately chose to portray their characters in a more visual way. To the average moviegoer, this film would seem slow, boring and a waste of time. Due to the simple fact that most people were expecting loud "Hollywood Action" sequences and explosions like a Mission Impossible film. Filmmakers and film enthusiasts, on the other hand, were, and definitely still are in awe of this film. It is really a character study of The Driver (Gosling) and the multiple obstacles he has to face throughout this movie. Winning Best Film at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival truly cemented it as one of the best films of 2011.

Switching gears, in this next performance of his we move to a more 'musical' side of Ryan Gosling. For which he took home a Golden Globe.

Damian Chazelle's La La Land (2016) was a refreshing style of film that appeared in 2016. It was light, easy but also very ambitious in its set design, lighting, sound work and of course, the cinematography.

In this film, Gosling plays a young man with an old soul. He is a firm believer in the purity of Jazz and wants to keep it alive by owning his own Jazz club. His character is forced to make certain decisions that he's not comfortable with in order to achieve his main ambition but he gets lost somewhere along the way when he joins a successful band that represents everything about Jazz in the modern world that he hates. This is where Mia comes in. Played by the marvellous and wildly talented Emma Stone, with whom Gosling has acted with on multiple occasions, is the driving force that brings him back on the path that he was meant to be on. Even if she isn't a part of that journey. Gosling was perfectly cast for the role of Sebastian, there simply isn't a better leading man for this part than him.

Other notable performances that Ryan Gosling has delivered over the years include 'Officer K' in Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 (2017), 'Noah' in what could be regarded in his breakout role as well as one of the all-time greatest romance films, The Notebook (2004) by Nick Cassavetes, 'Jacob' in Crazy, Stupid Love (2011) where he stars opposite Emma Stone and Steve Carell as the suave, stylish playboy. Putting on his PI hat in the neo-noir comedy film The Nice Guys (2016) starring opposite Russell Crowe, their amazing chemistry really made the film what it is. The Place Beyond The Pines (2013) where he plays new dad gone bank robber/dirt biker, Luke is arguably one of his best performances in what was a gritty, serious but vulnerable film. Last but certainly not least was his underrated performance in Gangster Squad (2013) where he once again stars opposite Emma Stone as the high pitched, lovestruck detective, Sgt Jerry Wooters.

Here's to more outstanding performances from this wildly talented and gifted actor. I also want to note that he has many more amazing, high profile performances that aren't listed here, due to the simple fact that this article would be 5 pages long.

Thank you for reading till the end, and stay tuned for new and upcoming blog posts on our new series 'The Actor's Digest'!