Ryan Gosling – biography, photo, facts, affairs, wife, kids, height and weight 2021

Biography of Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. His career started in Disney series, later he could have become a strong dramatic actor, highly demanded in Hollywood.

Gosling rarely takes second-rate projects, choosing the roles and directors very carefully. That is the reason why there are not so many works in his rich filmography (a bit more than 40 for almost 30 years acting career), but every role is worth its weight in gold. For example, these are melodramas “The Notebook” and “Blue Valentine”, thrillers “Stay” and “Drive”, political dramas “The Ides of March” and “The Big Short”, comedy “The Nice Guys” and of course musical “La-La Land”. This charming Canadian has earned dozens of nominations for prestigious movie awards including Oscar for the Best Actor (for movies “Half Nelson” and “La-La Land”), as well as honored “Golden Globe”.

Childhood

The boy destined to become a world movie star was born on November 12, 1980 in London. Not in the capital of England, but in a small Canadian town, situated in the southwest of Ontario. His father, Thomas Ray Gosling, was a travelling salesman for a paper mill. Thomas was working hard as well as Ryan’s mother Donna Gosling who was a secretary. Ryan also has an older sister Mandy.

Life in the family was not sweet enough: his parents quarreled frequently. When Ryan was 13, they divorced and the boy and his sister stayed with their mother. Later the actor joked that life with two women taught him “to think like a girl”.

Ryan Gosling with his closest and beloved relatives, a mother and sister

Of course, this situation strongly affected young Ryan. In an effort to attract attention, he did not hesitate to get into the fight first. He could hardly find friends because of his cranky and explosive character. Neither classmates nor neighborhood boys would make friends with him. It happened that most of the times Ryan’s tricks turned against himself: he came back home with scratches and bruises.

Once the boy watched the film “First Blood” with Sylvester Stallone, after that he brought kitchen knives to school and began to throw it at schoolmates. Ryan became dangerous to classmates. Moreover, he studied badly and suffered from dyslexia. The boy was transferred to homeschooling after psychologists diagnosed him with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

From this moment his life was taken under strict control. The situation was complicated by the fact that all members of Ryan Gosling’s family were deeply religious Mormons, so only biblical subjects and wild nature documentaries were allowed him to watch.

Fortunately, at some point, Donna realized that the reason of her son’s behavior was not just a desire to attract attention, but an unrealized creative potential connected with infinite energy the boy had was looking for a way out, as lava finding its way to the surface through the volcanic throat. So at the age of 13, Ryan went to the famous “Mickey Mouse Club” – for instance, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake graduated from there. By the way, Ryan became especially friendly with Justin.

Ryan Gosling and Justin Timberlake in youth

The main point of the project was that during the classes of the “Mouseketeers” club (as young stars were called) the children have to attract the attention of producers searching for young talents. After graduation from the Club in 1995, Ryan failed to build a career in music, but he finally gained confidence, found loyal friends and became responsible for his actions.

Year 2001: a young Ryan Gosling at the competition

Early acting career

Ryan Gosling’s TV career started with the “Mickey Mouse Club” series, as well as episodic roles in the “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” series and “Goosebumps”. The participation in the series “Breaker High” that was broadcasting from 1997 to 1998 was more serious. In 1998 Ryan received the main role in the “Young Hercules” TV series.

Ryan Gosling in the series «Young Hercules»

Ryan was given a leading role in the drama “The Believer” in 2001. His character was a Jewish skinhead disappointed with Judaism, refused to become a rabbi, and joined a neo-Nazi organization. Those who knew the actor by the “Young Hercules” were very surprised – it was a completely different Gosling, not afraid to try a questionable role. A few years after the premiere audience has associated Ryan with this thorny character, torn apart by internal conflict.

Young Ryan Gosling in the drama «The Believer»

From that moment there became more complex dramatic roles in Ryan’s filmography, completely different from easy-going Disney series. In 2002, Gosling starred in such dramatic movies as “Murder by Numbers”, “The Slaughter Rule”, “The United States of Leland”. A young detective shocked by a bloody murdered girl, a sportsman-teenager who lost his father, a shy guy who broke the law – all the heroes of this movie revealed important teenage problems, as much significant as the “adult world” conflicts.

«The Notebook» and the first Oscar nomination

In 2004, Ryan decided to change the genres a little bit and starred in the romantic drama “The Notebook”. This is a touching movie about love that stronger than any circumstances whether it is a test of time or a forced break up. The movie was a great success for the director Nick Cassavetes and brought Ryan and his partner Rachel McAdams to world fame.

«The Notebook», a scene

Amusingly, but during the shootings, actors barely stood each other. Even the fact that they turned out to be a fellow countryman did not help. There was no so-called “chemistry” between them. Ryan always argued with Rachel about acting methods and once lost his temper and even asked the director to change the girl to another actress. Surprisingly, soon after the shooting the actors suddenly came out as a couple. Ryan reported to the journalists: “Many people compare our relationship with the Notebook heroes loves story, but no – our story is much more romantic!”

Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were a couple on screen and then in real life

In 2006, a low budget (700.000 dollars) movie “Half-Nelson” was released. It brought Gosling the first nomination for an Oscar. He got the main role – a drug-addicted history teacher who ties himself up in a knot in a relationship with his students. Unfortunately to Ryan and his fans, Forest Whitaker won the golden statuette that year, for the role of the Ugandan tyrant Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland”.

Young Ryan Gosling dancing

The most selective actor in Hollywood

From 2010 to 2013, Ryan continued to appear in usual for him thrillers, dramas, and romantic melodramas, while always trying different types of roles. In 2011, the actor began to work with an independent Danish director, Nicholas Winding Refn, who shot him as a brave and risky racer in the crime drama «Drive». During the whole movie, Gosling barely dropped a couple of phrases, demonstrating his king’s ability to play the role without words. He performed most of the tricks without the help of stuntmen. Some of the scenes are really breathtaking and not just because of ordinary action.

At the same time, Ryan starred in the romantic comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love”. His partner was charming Emma Stone, with whom later they “played love” more than once. After it, Gosling played a Republican taking part in the presidential election, challenging his rival Democrat (G. Clooney) in George Clooney’s political drama “The Ides of March”. As a result, for both roles in these two movies, Gosling was nominated for the “Golden Globe”.

In the crime drama “The Place Beyond the Pines” actor’s colleagues on set were such actors as Bradley Cooper, Dane DeHaan, and Eva Mendes. After that movie, Gosling again starred in Refn’s experimental noir film “Only God Forgives” that received an ambiguous reaction from both the audience and critics.

«The Ides of March». Ryan Gosling as Stephen Meyers

In 2014, Gosling first tried himself as a director, making a fantasy film “Lost River” starring Saoirse Ronan and Christina Hendricks. The audience met the movie without enthusiasm. Critics reviewed that Gosling was too intimate and terribly repeatable. Nevertheless, the movie received two nominations at the Cannes Festival in categories “Director’s debut” and “Special Choice”.

A trailer of «Lost River» by Rayn Gosling

In 2015, he starred with Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Steve Carell in a drama based on real events “The Big Short”. His portrayal of a financial analyst, who managed to earn a few millions during the 2008 economic crisis, was very convincing. The film received a lot of nominations, the screenwriters won an Oscar for “Best Adapted Screenplay”.

While choosing projects Ryan Gosling never rushes. He prefers thoughtful work on an interesting role than a race of profit. Thus there are one-two premiers with Ryan in a year, but they are mostly a real treasure for true cinemaholics. So, in 2015, the actor starred with Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender, and Natalie Portman in Terrence Malick's philosophical drama “Song to Song”. In 2016, the actor was involved in filming the criminal comedy “The Nice Guys” starring Russell Crowe and the romantic musical “La La Land” by Damien Chazelle starring Emma Stone.

“La-La Land” became the main box-office hit, the triumphant of various awards, and most important, won the hearts of many romantic persons all over the world. It was a long time since musical stood in one row with strong dramas and high-budget films, initially created to be financially successful.

In January 2017, Ryan Gosling received the “Golden Globe” for playing Sebastian in “La-La Land”. His partner Emma Stone “collected” the entire set of awards that year, including the cherished Oscar. According to the script, he is a jazz musician, she is an aspiring actress. Both seeking to fulfill their dreams and ambitions, but that outs their love under a threat.

“La-La Land” was called the main favorite for winning the “Oscar” even before the nominees were announced. As a result the musical got 14 nominations in 13 categories, repeating “Titanic” (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) record. Gosling was nominated for “Best Actor”, but gave in to Casey Affleck who took the award for the role of Lee Chandler in “Manchester by the Sea”.

Musical career

Ryan never stopped playing music since the “Mickey Mouse Club”. In 2008, he still dated Rachel McAdams, while her sister Kaylin dated composer and actor Zach Shields. One day the young people found out that they both like horror stories and attributes of this kind. Moreover, both were keen on the idea of creating a musical band. So the band “Dead Man’s Bones” appeared. At the end of the same year, the guys uploaded their first song “In the Room Where You Sleep” on the Internet.

Dead Man's Bones – Lose Your Soul

A year later the band released its debut album “Dead Man’s Bones, which contained 12 songs. The children chorus and the bass player of the “Red Hot Chili Peppers” Flea took part in the recording of compositions in which the influence of such melancholic bands as Modest Mouse and Current 93 was clearly felt.

In 2009, guys shot a marvelous clip for the song “Name in Stone”, a year later such videos as “Pa Pa Power” and “Dead Hearts” were released. Ryan appeared under a pseudonym Baby Goose and proved that he is not only an excellent vocalist but a talented guitarist and piano player. Unfortunately, due to Ryan’s great business on the set, the group was liquidated, but fans still can’t stop waiting for their reunion.

Private life

Elegant and charming Ryan Gosling never suffered from a lack of female attention. Being the Hollywood star, he was dating only the famous actresses with whom he was thrown together by work or fate.

In 2002, during the “Murder by Numbers” shooting, the actor had a small affair with Sandra Bullock.

In 2004, during “The Notebook” shooting, he met, as it seemed then, the true love of his life – beautiful and elegant Rachel McAdams. The passionate love of their characters on the screen has found its continuation in real life. Their relationship lasted for three years. During 2007 the couple started over and broke up a few times. Later they broke up forever, keeping a good fellowship.

After that, the actor had tiny affairs with a «Bond-girl» Famke Janssen, as well as with Jamie Murray. Since autumn 2011, Ryan is in a relationship with the famous Latin-American actress Eva Mendes.

Their union was really strengthened by little Esmie (Esmeralda). The girl was born on September 12, 2014, giving happiness to her star parents. In honor of this, Ryan made a tattoo with the daughter's name on the right-hand fingers.

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes in The Place Beyond the Pines

Gosling and Mendes became parents for the second time in April 2016. Eva has given birth to a daughter, Amanda Lee Gosling. By the way, the couple is not married, considering that this is a meaningless ceremony.

Ryan Gosling Now

In autumn 2017, the long-awaited premiere with Ryan Gosling came out. It was the sequel of the cult fantasy film of the '80s by Ridley Scott the "Blade Runner". In “Blade Runner 2049” by Danny Villeneuve, Ryan’s character is a replicant-policeman (bioengineered human) who meets Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) to find out the truth about his origins and the mystery of Rick’s relationship with android Rachel from the first part of the movie.

The interview with Gosling and Ford

The cyberpunk atmosphere was carefully creating for several years and all the plot twists were kept in secret from everybody. Gosling had been even kicked into the face by Harrison Ford on the set, the actor tried so hard that he went too far and kicked Ryan truly.

Ana de Armas and Ryan Gosling in the «Blade Runner 2049»

In 2018, Ryan continued work on David Chazelle’s biopic the “First Man”, telling the story of the first human landing on the moon on the “Apollo 11”. Gosling would make “a small step for a man and a great for humanity”, playing Neil Armstrong.

In April 2020 some media told, that Ryan may become the next Hercules – Disney is going to make film remake of 'Hercules' animation. According to the rumors, he is one of the main candidates.