| Subject: Article About Ryan |
Author: Shantelle [Edit]
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Date Posted: 15:24:53 06/24/04 Thu
`The Notebook' lets Ryan Gosling explore his kinder, gentler side
By AMY LONGSDORF
For the Courier-Post
Ryan Gosling is not your run-of-the-mill heartthrob. He doesn't have bulging muscles. He's not drop-dead gorgeous. He's doesn't possess a red-carpet smile or a sparkling tan.
And he's spent a good part of his career playing killers and creeps. In The Believer, he was a Jewish neo-Nazi skinhead. In Murder By Numbers, he made a habit of murdering teenage girls. And in The United States of Leland, he offed an autistic boy.
But Gosling can be very charming when he wants to be, as his latest movie The Notebook demonstrates. The tearjerker, which opens Friday at area theaters, is the kind of star-crossed romance that could turn the young Canadian into a bonafide matinee idol.
"It's just so different than anything that I've ever done before," he acknowledges, during an interview in New York. "When I was reading it, I was amazed.
"Usually, when I'm reading a script and a new character comes in, I think, `My guy is probably going to be putting a car bomb under her car or something.' But this time, there was none of that. It was just simple."
Directed by Nick Cassavetes, the 1940s-era saga stars Gosling as Noah, a blue-collar boy who falls hard for a sheltered debutante (Rachel McAdams). James Garner and Gena Rowlands play the same characters during their twilight years.
"What I love about the movie is that it has such strong female characters," notes Gosling. "It's really Rachel's movie and she's terrific. I think that Gena is probably one of the best actors ever. And Joan Allen (who plays McAdams' mother) is incredible.
"Every time Joan Allen leaves a scene, you can see the mushroom cloud behind her. She just killed it. Don't try and play the scene after Joan Allen has left. She's done it all."
The Notebook is a departure from the dark, moody movies Gosling usually makes, but he didn't approach the project with any less zeal or commitment.
Two months before filming began, Gosling apprenticed with a cabinet maker in Charleston, S.C., learning how to make furniture for a home his character builds. In the process, he added more than 25 pounds to his lanky frame.
"This guy just had to be strong," says Gosling, 23. "I didn't exactly know what he should look like, but I just knew that he had to be so much stronger than he was when he was 17."
Even though Gosling was aware that James Garner would be taking over the role of Noah, he didn't go out of his way to sync up his performance with the older actor's.
"I would love to think that I could play a young James Garner, but I just can't," says Gosling. "Look, when James comes on set, women literally act like they're on drugs. They start foaming at the mouth and they're laughing all the time. That doesn't seem to happen when I come on set."
Gosling is a master at the art of self-deprecation. He particularly downplays his childhood success as a member of the same Mouseketeer cast that also yielded Britney Spears and Christina Aguliera.
Raised in Cornwall, Canada, in a Mormon family, Gosling was all of 12 years old when he wound up in Orlando, shooting episodes of Disney's re-vamped Mickey Mouse Club. He insists he was never given a huge role on the show, but mostly spent his time in the background, cheering on the other cast members.
"I couldn't do anything," he says. "I don't know how I got on the show. I have no idea. I think that they needed to fill a Canadian quotient, so they got me."
He might not have been the big cheese in the Mouse House, but Gosling quickly redeemed himself with performances on TV's Goosebumps, Road To Avonlea, Breaker High and the New Zealand production Young Hercules.
Starring roles in The Believer and Murder By Numbers turned him into one of Hollywood's hottest actors. Earlier this year, he earned a nod as "male star of tomorrow" at the ShoWest convention. He even landed in the tabloids, where he was linked to his Murder By Numbers co-star Sandra Bullock.
Next, Gosling will be seen opposite Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in Stay, filmmaker Marc Forster's follow-up to Monster's Ball.
"I've had more opportunities now than I've ever had, but I don't know how long that's going to last," muses Gosling. "Acting is something that I'm going to do only as long as I enjoy it."
Gosling admits he doesn't a contingency plan.
"I wish that I could be Karl Malone, but that's not going to happen. I'm terrible at basketball. The thing is that Malone is a real live superhero. He even really looks like a superhero.
"Honestly, I still don't know if I'm going to be an actor for the rest of my life. I feel like I'm young so I have some time to sort of explore this before I get a real job."
http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/june/f062004q.htm
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