Born November 12, 1980 in London, Ontario, Canada, Ryan Gosling is the son of a secretary and a traveling salesman.  Homeschooled by his mother, he attended several high schools including a vocational school where he excelled in drama and fine arts.

Gosling performed in several talent shows eventually landing a spot on The All New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993.  Moving to Los Angeles for the show, he roomed with co-star Justin Timberlake and his family for two years.

Having guest starred in episodes of various TV series, Gosling made his film debut in 1995’s Frankenstein and Me .  More TV films and series followed.  In 2000, he had a featured role in Remember the Titans in support of Denzel Washington.  He then played the lead role of a Jewish neo-Nazi in the 2001 Sundance Film Festival winner, The Believer.  He drew further attention with his role in Barbet Schroeder’s 2002 film, Murder by Numbers in support of Sandra Bullock.

The young actor had a major success with Nick Cassavetes’ 2004 film, The Notebook opposite Rachel McAdams in which he played the younger version of James Garner’s character. McAdams played the younger version of Gena Rowlands’ character.

Ryan Fleck’s 2006 film, Half Nelson, in which Gosling played a Junior High School teacher with a drug problem, brought him his first Oscar nomination.  He followed that with two 2007 hits, Gregory Hoblit’s Fracture opposite Anthony Hopkins and Craig Gillespie’s Lars and the Real Girl in which he starred opposite a life-size doll. He received his first of five Golden Globe nominations for the latter.

Derek Cianfrance’s 2010 film, Blue Valentine brought Golden Globe nominations to stars Gosling and Michelle Williams but only Williams went onto an Oscar nomination.  Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film, Drive earned numerous awards recognition for everyone connected with it, but its only Oscar nomination was for its sound editing.

Gosling’s two 2012 films, John Ficara and John Requa’s Crazy, Stupid, Love and George Clooney’s The Ides of March both earned Gosling Golden Globe nominations, the former for Best Actor – Comedy and the latter for Best Actor – Drama.

Adam McKay’s 2015 film, The Big Short received five Oscar nominations and one win for McKay’s screenplay, but Gosling was once again ignored.  Damien Chazelle’s 2016 film, La La Land finally earned Gosling his fifth Golden Globe nomination and his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor.  Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 film, Blade Runner 2049 paired Gosling with Harrison Ford.  Nominated for fic Oscars, it won two for its cinematography and visual effects.

Reunited with Chazelle for 2018’s First Man in which he played Neil Armstrong, Gosling was once again ignored by Oscar.  Back in the Oscar conversation for a nomination once again for Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film, Barbie, Gosling received some of the best notices of his career for playing the Ken doll at 42.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007), directed by Craig Gillespie

This was the breakthrough film by Australian director Gillespie who later directed The Finest Hours and I, Tonya.  It also proved that Gosling was more than a one-trick pony having pulled off an Oscar nod for the previous year’s Half Nelson.  It was quite an accomplishment for the young actor who went from playing the heavily dramatic role of a drug-addicted teacher to a sweet natured if delusional young man living in his brother and sister-in-law’s garage who falls in love with a life-size doll he discovers on the internet.  Emily Mortimer co-stars as the sister-in-law who helps bring reality back into his life.

BLUE VALENTINE (2010), directed by Derek Cianfrance

Cianfrance, who later directed Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines and earned an Oscar nomination for writing Sound of Metal, landed in the big time with this acclaimed film about a modern marriage between Gosling and Michelle Williams.  The film takes the couple from courtship to marriage and its eventual dissolution.  Both stars received awards recognition including Golden Globe nominations but only Williams went on to receive an Oscar nod for her performance.  Gosling won a Choltrudis Award for Best Actor award shared with Philip Seymour Hoffman in Jack Goes Boating.

DRIVE (2011), directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

This film put Danish director Winding Refn on the map but nothing he has done since has gotten much notice.  The hugely popular film did receive an Oscar nomination for Sound Editing but did not generate any acting nominations for its high-powered cast.  Gosling as a garage mechanic and occasional Hollywood stuntman and Carey Mulligan as his single-mother girlfriend were nominated for BAFTA awards and Albert Brooks received a Golden Globe nomination for his comeback performance playing against type as a hardnosed gangster.  The high-powered film also featured Bryan Cranston and Ron Perlman in major roles.

FIRST MAN (2018), directed by Damien Chazelle

Two years after receiving his second Oscar nomination for Chazelle’s La La Land, Gosling played Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, for the director.  One of the year’s most highly anticipated films, it received generally strong review and was expected to receive a slew of Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Supporting Actress (Golden Globe nominee Claire Foy as Gosling’s long-suffering wife) but wound up getting just four, all in technical categories.  It won for Visual Effects.  The cast also included Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, and Ciaran Hinds.

BARBIE (2023), directed by Greta Gerwig

Gosling is back on Oscar’s radar for his portrayal of the traditional Ken doll in Gerwig’s satiric take on Mattel’s famous dolls who live in their own world until current events lead them to venture into the human world resulting in upheaval in theirs.  Margot Robbie plays the title role of the traditional Barbie doll opposite Gosling.  Others in the cast include Kate McKinnon, America Ferrara, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rea, Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, Hari Neff, Simu Lui, Kinsley Ben-Adair, John Cena, and as the inventor of the dolls, Rhea Perlman, with Will Ferrell as the head of Mattel.

RYAN GOSLING AND OSCAR

Half Nelson (2006) – nominated – Best Actor.

La La Land (2016) – nominated – Best Actor.