Ryan Gosling Trivia
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48 free Ryan Gosling trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Ryan Gosling was a bullied Mormon kid in Ontario who could not read at ten, threw steak knives at school after watching First Blood, and sang at weddings with his sister and his uncle's Elvis act. At twelve he was a Mouseketeer alongside Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake; at nineteen he quit television to be taken seriously. This quiz covers what followed: The Believer at Sundance, Noah Calhoun and the co-star he could not stand, the Oscar nomination for Half Nelson, the sixty pounds he gained for a film he never made, Drive as a violent John Hughes movie, cocktail classes for Crazy, Stupid, Love, Lost River at Cannes, La La Land, Officer K, Neil Armstrong, I'm Just Ken, Project Hail Mary, the marionette-theatre residency of Dead Man's Bones and the Moroccan restaurant he bought on impulse. Fifty questions with four options each and a short explanation after every answer. Play on your phone or print it for a movie-night quiz.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Ryan Gosling was born in which Canadian city?
London, Ontario
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.
Q 02Gosling's father worked as a travelling salesman for what kind of business?
A paper mill
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.
Q 03Gosling was raised in which religious denomination?
Mormon
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.
Q 04As a child performer in Florida, Gosling lived for a time with which future pop star's family?
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake's mother became Gosling's legal guardian for a while, because his own mother had to go back to Canada to work.
Q 05After watching which action film did a young Gosling throw steak knives at school?
First Blood
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.
Q 06When ten-year-old Gosling struggled at school, what did his mother do?
Homeschooled him
Homeschooled him: Gosling says the time at home with his mother gave him 'a sense of autonomy that I've never really lost'.
Q 07Gosling performed as a child with his uncle's tribute act to which singer?
Elvis Presley
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.
Q 08Gosling modelled his unusual accent on which actor because Canadian didn't sound 'tough'?
Marlon Brando
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.
Q 09At 12, Gosling won a spot on which Disney Channel show and moved to Orlando?
The All New Mickey Mouse Club
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.
Q 10Which Fox Kids adventure series did Gosling film in New Zealand?
Young Hercules
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.
Q 11Gosling's Breaker High was set in a school aboard what?
A cruise ship
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.
Q 12Gosling played a young Jewish neo-Nazi in which 2001 film?
The Believer
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'.
Q 13Gosling's 2001 neo-Nazi drama won the Grand Jury Prize at which festival?
Sundance
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.
Q 21Who directed Gosling in both Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines?
Derek Cianfrance
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.
Q 22What classes did Gosling take to prepare for Crazy, Stupid, Love?
Cocktail-making
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.
Q 23Gosling described Drive as a violent version of whose movies?
John Hughes
Q 14Who co-starred with Gosling in The Notebook?
Rachel McAdams
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.
Q 15What was the name of Gosling's character in The Notebook?
Noah Calhoun
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.
Q 16The Notebook was filmed mainly in and around which US city?
Charleston
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.
Q 17Gosling's first Oscar nomination came for playing a drug-addicted teacher in which film?
Half Nelson
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.
Q 18In Lars and the Real Girl, Gosling drew on James Stewart's role in which film?
Harvey
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.
Q 19Gosling agreed to make Fracture only after which co-star signed on?
Anthony Hopkins
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.
Q 20Who replaced Gosling in The Lovely Bones after he turned up 60 pounds heavier than its director wanted?
Mark Wahlberg
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.
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.
Q 24In Drive, Gosling's character works as a Hollywood stunt performer and what else?
A getaway driver
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.
Q 25Who directed The Ides of March, in which Gosling played a press secretary?
George Clooney
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.
Q 26In Gangster Squad, Gosling's Sergeant Jerry Wooters battles which real mob boss?
Mickey Cohen
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.
Q 27In The Place Beyond the Pines, Gosling's Luke robs banks using what skill?
Motorcycle stunt riding
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.
Q 28Gosling trained in which martial art for Only God Forgives?
Muay Thai
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.
Q 29Gosling's directorial debut Lost River premiered in which section of Cannes 2014?
Un Certain Regard
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'.
Q 30In The Big Short, Gosling's banker urges investors to bet against which booming market?
Housing
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.