Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He began his career as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club (1993–95) and went on to appear in other family entertainment programs including Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps. Since then he has been the star of many acclaimed feature films and the obsession of teenage girls all around the world. He is actually a pretty interesting guy, as these facts will show you, there is much more to Ryan that what meets the eye. Enjoy these facts about Ryan Gosling.
Ryan Gosling Facts
1. Has Anyone Seen Ryan?
The producers of the 2007 film Fracture had a hard time finding Ryan Gosling to give him the film's script because he was living in a tent for two months at the time for reasons he won't disclose. We’re happy they found him!
2. The Mickey Mouse Club Crew
Ryan first broke into show business on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin /Timberlake. Ryan and Justin were roommates during their time in the Mickey Mouse Club. Justin’s mom was his legal guardian for six months.
3. Umm...ok?
He was cast in The Notebook because the director thought he wasn’t cool or good-looking. For real, this is what happened when Ryan met the director of The Notebook: “When I got there, he was standing in his backyard, and he looked at me and said, ‘I want you to play this role because you’re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.’”
4. Probably should have asked
Ryan Gosling was supposed to play the lead in The Lovely Bones but was fired when he showed up on set weighing 210 pounds. He was cast when he weighed 150 pounds. He actually gained the weight on purpose because he felt the character should be fat and bearded, Peter Jackson disagreed.
5. Handyman Ryan
Ryan built the car he used in Drive. The director said, “Ryan wanted to build his own car. So the car, the Malibu, the old gray car he drives around, he built himself. He took it apart and put it back together.” He also built the table from The Notebook that he and Rachel McAdams consummated their relationship on.
6. I got an idea!
After eating an awesome meal, Ryan, on a whim, decided to open a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills called Tagine. It basically bankrupt him and he had to do all the plumbing work himself. And yes, he even did the dishes.
7. Tattoo Gone Wrong
Ryan gave himself a tattoo with a tattoo kit and no experience. It was supposed to be a bloody monster’s hand but it looks more like a cactus. He said: “One of my tattoos is supposed to be a monster’s hand dropping a bloody heart but I did it myself with a tattoo kit so it looks like a cactus.”
Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images
8. Sandra Bullock’s A Cougar
He dated Sandra Bullock from 2002–2003. She was 16 years older than him. In 2011, he said she was one of the greatest girlfriends, “I had two of the greatest girlfriends of all time. I haven’t met anybody who could top them.” The other girl he’s referring to was Rachel McAdams.
Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images
9. A Dog With A Mohawk
His dog George has a mohawk because his dog insists on it. Ryan said, “Ten years ago I shaved a mohawk just for the summer. And then, every time it started to grow out, he turned into a total jerk. And then, I’d shave it back and he’d turn into a nice guy again.”
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10. Quit Playing Games With Our Hearts
A.J. McLean never returned Ryan Gosling’s calls about joining the Backstreet Boys in the early ’90s. They lived in the same apartment complex at the time. Are you thinking what we’re thinking? Why didn’t he call Justin Timberlake and ask to join N'sync?
11. He’s Canadian, Eh?
He was born in London, Ontario, Canada on November 12, 1980. Funny enough, Gosling and ex-girlfriend and The Notebook co-star, Rachel McAdams, were born in the same hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Ontario, Canada. What a coincidence! I wonder if they knew each other as children.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
12. A Lone Wolf
He was home-schooled since he was 10. Gosling admits that he has no entourage and only a few close friends. He often prefers solitude while not working, attributing it to his isolated childhood.
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
13. A True Philanthropist
He is heavily involved in many types of philanthropic work, including PETA, Invisible Children and SickKids Foundation. He has also devoted time and money to AIDS research, poverty aid and humane animal treatment. He is a supporter of many causes ranging from the condition of refugees to the practices of slaughterhouses. He went to Chad in the year 2005 to make a documentary about the Darfur refugees living there.
14. How do I get this on my iPhone?
When Gosling was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show recently to tell Ellen all about his new movie, La La Land, he sent the audience home with the "La La Land" soundtrack on vinyl, and with a record player from VNYL! VNYL is an awesome subscription service that sends you 3 vinyl records per month based on your Spotify account and member profile. So cool!
15. Wanting To Sound Like Marlon Brando - Can’t Blame Him!
At age 17, Ryan dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his movie career. The first role he got in the new city was in the series “Young Hercules”. At a young age, Ryan thought having a Canadian accent didn’t sound “tough enough. I thought guys should sound like Marlon Brando. So now I have a phony accent I can’t shake, so it’s not phony anymore.”
16. He Has A Heart Of Gold
Gosling has traveled to the Congo with the Enough Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending genocide. Oh, and he once broke up a random fight between two guys on the streets of New York.
17. He’s In A Band
The dude is musically inclined. He’s in a band called Dead Man’s Bones. He sings, as well as plays piano, guitar and bass. Oh, and back in 1991, he brought the house down with his rendition of “Everybody Dance Now.”
18. I could live in here
There’s a bathroom stall in a San Diego sushi restaurant entirely dedicated to him. Bang Bang, a sushi restaurant/dance club in San Diego, created quite possibly the best marketing strategy ever when they decided to cover the walls of a women’s bathroom stall in photos of Ryan Gosling. Behold, in all its glory, the Ryan Gosling bathroom.
19. He Grew Up Mormon
He was brought up as a Mormon. Gosling was very religious as a child, and his parents still are. Gosling once told The Guardian: “We were pretty religious, it was a part of everything – what they ate, how they thought.”
20. Channelling His Inner Rambo
He once threw steak knives at his schoolmates. “When I first saw Rambo, that movie put a kind of spell on me and I actually thought I WAS Rambo,” the Huffington Post has cited Gosling as saying. “So much so, that one day, I took a bunch of steak knives to school and threw them around at recess time because I thought we were in the movie!” He did learn a lesson from it, though, saying: “my mother said I couldn’t watch R-rated movies anymore.”
21. Love/hate relationship
He didn’t want Rachel McAdams to be in The Notebook. On-screen lovers Gosling and Rachel McAdams had a real-life romance for the two a few years after filming ended, much to our delight. But the duo reportedly fought like cats and dogs behinds the scenes, with Gosling even saying: “Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off-camera with me?”
22. Buy Our Cookies Ryan!
After hearing this, you are going to wish you were a Girl Scout! He’s good to Girl Scouts. He once bought out an entire Girl Scout Cookie stand and handed them out to people on the street!
23. He Loves Knitting
He just wants to sit in a room and knit all day. He told Vanity Fair: “If I had to design my perfect day, that would be it. And you get something out of it at the end. You get a nice present.”
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
24. School Was Hard For Ryan
While he is known for being massively private, he has disclosed publicly that he struggled with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a child; a condition that caused him much heartache and difficulty during his early years. He was first diagnosed with ADHD when he was in first grade and was placed in a class with special-needs students.
25. A Big Win For Ryan!
The Golden Globes were a lovely night for Ryan Gosling: The La La Land star won the award for best actor in a comedy or musical at this year’s Golden Globes. He thanked his costar Emma Stone (herself a nominee in the best actress in a musical or comedy category) and La La Land director Damien Chazelle, before paying special tribute to his partner Eva Mendes, whom Gosling noted helped raise their two daughters and take care of her brother, who died last year of cancer, while he was making the film.
26. Such Troublemakers
Gosling and Justin Timberlake were such troublemakers back in their Mickey Mouse Club days. They once stole golf carts and drove them into MGM Studios. Gosling also allegedly played spin the bottle with Britney Spears.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
27. A Real Life Hero
He may have played a superhero in movies, but he also acts like one in real life. While walking on the busy streets of New York City, one woman wasn't watching where she was going and was about to step into traffic. Many people of saw, but it was Ryan Gosling who pulled her back.
28. We Would Like Ryan To Serenade Us!
Gosling stars in Chazelle’s sweeping musical, La La Land, as Sebastian, an idealistic jazz pianist who falls head over heels for an actress named Mia (played by Emma Stone). Although Gosling had some musical experience from his Mickey Mouse Club days, he had to take extensive dance and piano lessons to play the dreamy musician. Last year he told Entertainment Weekly that starring in a musical presented a whole new set of challenges as an actor.
29. May have corrupted Britney...
He feels responsible for corrupting Britney Spears on The Mickey Mouse Club. He says, "They would come and ask me questions about sex, and I just told them what I heard – like positions and stuff. All the other mothers went to Disney and told them I was corrupting their kids. I feel somewhat responsible for how sexual she is right now. When I see her with a snake around her neck, I think, 'Did I do that?'
30. His Private Life
Gosling met Eva Mendes on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines in 2012. They have had two beautiful daughters, Esmeralda (2014) and Amanda (April 2016). "Eva's the dream mother, and they're dream babies, and it’s like a dream that I’m having right now. I’m dreaming it all," Gosling, 36, said of his family. "When you meet your kids you realize that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders and you have to try and become the person that they deserve."
31. We Think His Big Break Was Breaker High!
Gosling's first major film breakthrough was his supporting role in the sports drama Remember the Titans (2000) starring Denzel Washington. He followed that performance with a leading role in the critically acclaimed film, The Believer, where he played a Jewish neo-Nazi. This movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
32. He Won Our Hearts
Gosling reached a summit of his profession with his performance in Half Nelson (2006), which garnered him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. In a short time, he has established himself as one of the finest actors of his generation. Throughout the subsequent decade, he has become all three of an internet fixation, a box office star, and a critical darling, having headlined Blue Valentine (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), Drive (2011), The Ides of March (2011), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), and La La Land (2016).
Christopher Polk, Getty Images
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
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