48 Fun Facts About Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling was born in which Canadian city?

London, Ontario was only his birthplace: the family moved around for his father's work, and he grew up mostly in Cornwall, in the east of the province.

Gosling's father worked as a travelling salesman for what kind of business?

A paper mill: it employed most of the family in his home town, and Gosling has said that not wanting to work there himself was part of what drove him to perform.

Gosling was raised in which religious denomination?

Mormon: Gosling has said the faith shaped every part of family life, yet as a young teenager he told his mother it did not suit him.

As a child performer in Florida, Gosling lived for a time with which future pop star's family?

Justin Timberlake's mother became Gosling's legal guardian for a while, because his own mother had to go back to Canada to work.

After watching which action film did a young Gosling throw steak knives at school?

First Blood: in grade one he decided he was Rambo and took the knives to school in a toy magic kit. He was suspended, and his mother banned R-rated films.

When ten-year-old Gosling struggled at school, what did his mother do?

Homeschooled him: Gosling says the time at home with his mother gave him 'a sense of autonomy that I've never really lost'.

Gosling performed as a child with his uncle's tribute act to which singer?

Elvis Presley: his uncle performed as 'Elvis Perry', and eight-year-old Gosling joined the act as its 'head of security', dressed in a big gold lamé jacket.

Gosling modelled his unusual accent on which actor because Canadian didn't sound 'tough'?

Marlon Brando: Gosling grew up a bridge away from the US border, besotted with American films, and decided as a boy that his own way of speaking was not tough enough.

At 12, Gosling won a spot on which Disney Channel show and moved to Orlando?

The All New Mickey Mouse Club: Gosling says the other children were far more talented, so he was seldom used and spent his days selling on his free Disney World passes.

Which Fox Kids adventure series did Gosling film in New Zealand?

Young Hercules: he played the hero, tired of acting that he felt 'just sold ad space', and gave up television for film once the series ended.

Gosling's Breaker High was set in a school aboard what?

A cruise ship: the floating school let episodes be set in exotic ports, yet the series never left Canada, where it was shot in and around Vancouver.

Gosling played a young Jewish neo-Nazi in which 2001 film?

The Believer: fresh from children's television, Gosling had to talk the director into an audition, and has said that once the film was seen 'I had a career and I had choice'.

Gosling's 2001 neo-Nazi drama won the Grand Jury Prize at which festival?

Sundance: even its top prize could not win so controversial a film a full cinema release, and it was shown first on the cable channel Showtime.

Who co-starred with Gosling in The Notebook?

Rachel McAdams and Gosling 'hated each other' on set, their director said, and he was as surprised as anyone when the two later became a couple.

What was the name of Gosling's character in The Notebook?

Noah Calhoun: Gosling modelled him on Sam Shepard's performance in Days of Heaven, and then found himself acting alongside Shepard, who was in the cast.

The Notebook was filmed mainly in and around which US city?

Charleston: Gosling moved there months early to prepare, rowing on the river in the mornings and building furniture in the afternoons. The novel itself is set in North Carolina.

Gosling's first Oscar nomination came for playing a drug-addicted teacher in which film?

Half Nelson: to prepare, Gosling moved into a small Brooklyn apartment a month before the shoot and spent his days shadowing a teacher at work.

In Lars and the Real Girl, Gosling drew on James Stewart's role in which film?

Harvey: Stewart plays a man whose best friend is an invisible six-foot rabbit, and Gosling called it the only film he could compare with one about a man devoted to a life-size doll.

Gosling agreed to make Fracture only after which co-star signed on?

Anthony Hopkins was the whole attraction: Gosling had turned the thriller down at first, and says he spent the four-month shoot watching how the older actor worked.

Who replaced Gosling in The Lovely Bones after he turned up 60 pounds heavier than its director wanted?

Mark Wahlberg took over as the grieving father. Gosling had decided by himself that the character should be heavy, and put the weight on by drinking melted ice cream.

Who directed Gosling in both Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines?

Derek Cianfrance stopped the Blue Valentine shoot for a month so that his two leads could move in together and play house, acting out birthdays and Christmases with their screen daughter.

What classes did Gosling take to prepare for Crazy, Stupid, Love?

Cocktail-making: the script had him mixing drinks, so a friend who owns a Los Angeles bar taught him, which Gosling admits was also a fine excuse to spend time in a bar.

Gosling described Drive as a violent version of whose movies?

John Hughes wrote Pretty in Pink, which Gosling said would be perfect if it had 'head-smashing': he had always wanted to see a violent film of that kind.

In Drive, Gosling's character works as a Hollywood stunt performer and what else?

A getaway driver: the hero has no name and hardly any lines. By day he does car stunts for film crews and works in a garage, and by night he drives for robbers.

Who directed The Ides of March, in which Gosling played a press secretary?

George Clooney directed and also starred. Gosling, a Canadian, said he took the part because it would force him to learn how American politics works.

In Gangster Squad, Gosling's Sergeant Jerry Wooters battles which real mob boss?

Mickey Cohen, the real boss of 1940s Los Angeles crime, is played by Sean Penn. The film reached cinemas four months late, after a shoot-out set in a movie theatre was taken out.

In The Place Beyond the Pines, Gosling's Luke robs banks using what skill?

Motorcycle stunt riding: Luke is a carnival daredevil who quits the show and starts raiding banks on his bike after learning that he has a baby son to provide for.

Gosling trained in which martial art for Only God Forgives?

Muay Thai: his character is an American in Bangkok who runs a Thai boxing club as a front for the family's drug trade, so Gosling trained in the sport before filming.

Gosling's directorial debut Lost River premiered in which section of Cannes 2014?

Un Certain Regard: the reviews out of Cannes were scathing, but Gosling insists the stories of booing were untrue and remembers the screening as 'an incredible night'.

In The Big Short, Gosling's banker urges investors to bet against which booming market?

Housing: his character spots that mortgage bonds are about to collapse and sells the bet to others, sniffing the air in meetings because, he says, he can smell money.

Who co-starred with Gosling in The Nice Guys (2016)?

Russell Crowe and Gosling play a mismatched pair who team up on a missing-person case. The film flopped on release and only later picked up a cult following.

Which director made both La La Land and First Man with Gosling?

Damien Chazelle's two films with Gosling went opposite ways: La La Land was a huge hit with 14 Oscar nominations, while First Man was admired but found few takers.

What is the name of Gosling's character in Blade Runner 2049?

Officer K hunts down rogue replicants for the Los Angeles police, and the trail leads him to Deckard, the blade runner Harrison Ford first played in 1982.

Which Moon-landing moment did Gosling's First Man leave out?

The flag planting: the omission drew a backlash before the film had even opened, and Armstrong's own sons stepped in to defend it.

Gosling returned after a four-year break in which 2022 Netflix thriller?

The Gray Man cost a reported $200 million, the most Netflix had spent on a film at the time. Gosling had taken the four years off to be at home with his young family.

Besides 'I'm Just Ken', Gosling covered which Matchbox Twenty song for Barbie?

Push: Ken adopts the 1997 hit as his favourite song and performs it on guitar at a low point with Barbie, and it becomes a tongue-in-cheek anthem for the film's Kens.

Who co-starred with Gosling in the 2024 action comedy The Fall Guy?

Emily Blunt plays a first-time director and Gosling the stuntman who is in love with her. The man who made the film, David Leitch, started out as a stuntman himself.

Gosling's 2026 film Project Hail Mary adapts a novel by which author?

Andy Weir also wrote The Martian. Gosling signed on to star in and produce the film in 2020, more than a year before the novel itself reached bookshops.

Gosling's Star Wars film Starfighter, announced in 2025, is directed by whom?

Shawn Levy agreed to make a Star Wars film in 2022, put it aside to direct Deadpool & Wolverine, and came back to it with Gosling as his star.

Which Marvel character was Gosling announced to play at Comic-Con in July 2026?

Ghost Rider: Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige broke the news himself at the studio's Comic-Con panel in San Diego, where the announcement was met with pandemonium in the hall.

What is the name of Gosling's indie band with Zach Shields?

Dead Man's Bones toured in 2009 without a support band: the pair held a talent show for local acts each night instead.

Gosling's band held a 2009 residency at which unusual Los Angeles venue?

Bob Baker Marionette Theater: instead of a rock club, the band took over a puppet theatre for three September nights and directed the shows themselves.

Gosling's band recorded its 2009 debut album with what kind of choir?

A children's choir: the singers came from a Los Angeles music school, and the album even uses the children's laughter and chatter as background sound.

The Beverly Hills restaurant Gosling opened with friends in the 2000s serves which cuisine?

Moroccan: the restaurant is called Tagine, and in its early years Gosling could often be found working in the kitchen himself.

Which co-star did Gosling begin a relationship with in 2011?

Eva Mendes met Gosling on The Place Beyond the Pines, in which she plays the mother of his character's baby, and the couple went on to have two children of their own.

Gosling volunteered in Biloxi, Mississippi, after which 2005 disaster?

He also travelled to Darfur refugee camps in Chad that year.

Gosling campaigned with PETA to get dairy farmers to stop doing what to cows?

Dehorning: in a 2013 letter released by PETA, Gosling called the removal of calves' horns barbaric and asked milk producers to breed naturally hornless cattle instead.

Around the time of his first Oscar nomination, Gosling was living in which part of Los Angeles?

Skid Row: Gosling picked it over the usual actors' neighbourhoods, saying of the district, 'You can't filter yourself from reality there.'