Ryan Gosling Interview

14 March 2008

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A former 'Mouseketeer' (alongside Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears) and child television star, Canadian Ryan Gosling appeared in Remember the Titans before jumping to the cinema-going public’s attention as the neo-Nazi Jew in The Believer. From there his career decisions have been eclectic and interesting (Murder by Numbers, The Notebook, Stay, Fracture) before his Oscar nominated performance in last year’s Half Nelson. He was the youngest Best Actor nominee since John Travolta for Saturday Night Fever.

How did it feel playing opposite Bianca, a rubber blow-up doll?

Amazing. She showed up at the read-through and I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. I found her endlessly fascinating. You think that she’s looking at you sometimes, or that you just caught her blinking. If you could spend 10 minutes with her you could see what I mean; you’d fall in love with her too. I saw her effect on myself and on everybody in crew and on the cast. She’s interesting. She asks you to look at yourself and forces you to be creative and develop a relationship with yourself.

But wasn’t it difficult on set?

Actually I would look forward to our scenes together. When they called 'action' it was just me and her that bonded me to Bianca. I was relaxed when she was on set, she had a calming presence. We just kind of developed this bond where I felt safe in the scenes with her, to the point where I could try anything do anything.

Did she become real to you?

Yes. It’s a totally different experience reading it to watching the film. She does become real to you because you’re reading it and when you watch it as a film you realise that it’s a doll, and she’s never going to get real.

But Craig (director, Craig Gillespie) said 'I’m going to treat her as if she’s got a nudity clause in her contract'.

He required that everyone treat her like an actress. She got magazines between takes, she had her own trailer (which she changed in), and when she came on set she was treated like any other actor.

What was your first reaction to the script?

When I first heard of the idea I though it was funny, but there’s no way it can hold up for an entire film. But I was wrong I was crying by the end of the script. I’d been waiting to read a script like that my whole life; I didn’t want it to end.

I read it on Saturday and was committed on Monday. The great thing about Nancy’s (writer, Nancy Oliver) writing is that everything is so clearly laid out for you.

The characters are so clearly defined yet but at the same time there is all this room for you to be creative.

How would you describe it now?

It’s very special a beautiful love story, and very magical in the vein of Harvey or Being There or even Harold and Maude. They’re all movies that are like genres unto themselves.

Lars is a radical film because it believes in peoples’ goodness. There’s nothing cynical about this movie. It wears its heart on its sleeve and believes there’s an inherent goodness in most people. The townsfolk rally round Lars and support him because they get something out of it too. They want to be part of something special.

How did you prepare for a role like Lars?

To me he seemed like he could be one of my uncles. I had to get rid of all the posturing and ideas of what makes me 'cool' or charming, and turn up the more vulnerable parts of myself.

So you didn’t care about being attractive on screen?

On no. The only really good performances out right now are female performances Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There, Marion Cortillard in La Vie en Rose. Women aren’t interested in being sexy any more, and men are. All the guys have objectified themselves and sexualised themselves into being just matinee idols.

Does that mean that you shy away from sexy roles?

Let’s just say that Lars, The Believer and Half Nelson are the kind of movies I’m trying to make. They’re serious, but have elements of humour to them as well. It’s not just bleak, dark and depressing that’s just boring. But they are movies about characters that aren’t sexy.

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