Ryan Gosling

Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor.

Prominent in both independent film and major studio features of varying genres, his films have accrued a worldwide box office gross of over $1.9 billion dollars.

He has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTAs.

Ryan Thomas Gosling was born on November 12, 1980, at St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario, the son of Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman for a paper mill, and Donna, a secretary.

Both of his parents are of part French Canadian descent, along with some German, English, Scottish, and Irish.

He and his family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Gosling has said that the religion influenced every aspect of their lives.

Because of his father's work, they "moved around a lot" and Gosling lived in both Cornwall, Ontario and Burlington, Ontario.

His parents divorced when he was 13, and he and his older sister Mandi lived with their mother, an experience Gosling has credited with programming him "to think like a girl".

Gosling was educated at Gladstone Public School, Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School and Lester B. Pearson High School.

As a child, he watched Dick Tracy and was inspired to become an actor.

He "hated" being a child, was bullied in elementary school, and had no friends until he was "14 or 15".

In grade one, having been heavily influenced by the action film First Blood, he took steak knives to school and threw them at other children during recess.

This incident led to a suspension.

He was unable to read, and was evaluated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but was not diagnosed with it and, contrary to false reports, never took medication.

His mother left her job and home-schooled him for a year.

He has said homeschooling gave him "a sense of autonomy that I've never really lost".

Gosling performed in front of audiences from an early age, encouraged by his sister being a performer.

He and his sister sang together at weddings; he performed with Elvis Perry, his uncle's Elvis Presley tribute act, and was involved with a local ballet company.

Performing boosted his self-confidence as it was the only thing for which he received praise.

He developed an idiosyncratic accent because, as a child, he thought having a Canadian accent did not sound "tough".

He began to model his accent on that of Marlon Brando.

Gosling dropped out of high school at age 17 to focus on his acting career.

Gosling rose to prominence at age 13 on Disney Channel's The Mickey Mouse Club (1993–1995), and went on to appear in other family entertainment programs, including Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995) and Goosebumps (1996).

In 1993, 12-year-old Gosling attended an open audition in Montreal for a revival of the Disney Channel's The Mickey Mouse Club.

He was given a two-year contract as a mouseketeer and moved to Orlando, Florida.

He appeared on-screen infrequently because other children were considered more talented.

Nonetheless, he has described the job as the greatest two years of his life.

Fellow cast members included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake.

Gosling has credited the experience with instilling in him "this great sense of focus."

His breakthrough film role was as a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer (2001), and he gained stardom for starring in the 2004 romantic drama The Notebook.

Gosling starred in the critically acclaimed independent dramas Half Nelson (2006), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; Lars and the Real Girl (2007), and Blue Valentine (2010).

Gosling's band, Dead Man's Bones, released their self-titled debut album and toured North America in 2009.

He is a co-owner of Tagine, a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills, California.

Gosling is a supporter of PETA, Invisible Children, and the Enough Project and has traveled to Chad, Uganda and eastern Congo to raise awareness about conflicts in the regions.

Gosling has been involved in peace promotion efforts in Africa for over a decade.

He is in a relationship with actress Eva Mendes, with whom he has two daughters.

He starred in three mainstream successes in 2011: the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, the political drama The Ides of March, and the action thriller Drive.

After making his directorial debut with Lost River (2014), Gosling starred in the financial satire The Big Short (2015), the action comedy The Nice Guys (2016), and the romantic musical La La Land (2016), the latter of which won him a Golden Globe and a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Further acclaim followed with the science fiction film Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the biopic First Man (2018).

In 2023, he played Ken in the fantasy comedy Barbie, which emerged as his highest-grossing release and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.