How Ryan Gosling Went From Angry Indie Boy to the Funniest Lead in Hollywood

The big picture

• Ryan Gosling went from drama to comedy, showing off his comedic talent
  The nice guys
  i
  barbie
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• Gosling's authenticity is key in his comedic performances, subverting his suave image with sincerity and heart.
• The Fall Guy
  capitalizes on Gosling's new goofiness, casting him as a comedic dynamo in a hapless stunt role.

Throughout most of his career, if you were to see a Ryan Gosling movie, you were prepared to be upset. Gosling liked to challenge himself as a dramatic actor, carefully selecting projects based on his provocative original material and the auteur behind it. His attempt to break from his morning idol image to a prestigious actor didn't seem desperate because he was consistently magnetic in films like Half Nelson, blue valentine, To drivei Blade Runner 2049. However, something turned upside down in recent years. Gosling, an avatar of “film bros” who portrayed men haunted by their psychological distress, he has suddenly become one of the funniest leading men in Hollywood. Although ignored after release, anyone who has seen it The nice guys won't stop talking about how hilarious Gosling is as a clumsy private eye. For certain generations, Gosling will be remembered as Ken barbie, not as a sad loner. Gosling's recently released action comedy, The Fall Guyhe tries to capture the goodwill he received for pivoting from his a stern protagonist with an untapped comic force that is both soft and goofy.

Ryan Gosling proved his chops as a dramatic actor

Along with Justin Timberlake i Britney SpearsRyan Gosling burst onto the scene as a member of The new Mickey Mouse club, the '90s revival of the classic '50s sketch series. To prove himself as a serious adult actor, Gosling quickly moved into independent film. In a jarring twist to his children's television tenure, Gosling starred The Believerthe story of a young self-hating Jew who develops neo-Nazi beliefs, as well as Half Nelson, which earned him his first Oscar nomination. With his innovative cinematographic performance The notebook, he was immediately crowned the dreamiest man in Hollywood. Upon its arrival in the mainstream, Gosling continued to push himself as a dramatic actor with roles that shattered any notion of him as a “pretty boy”. The three-time Oscar-nominated actor's screen persona was defined by internalized dread. Despite being one of the most handsome men ever to grace the screen, Gosling found himself playing emotionally disaffected souls, most notably as the mysterious stunt/getaway driver in To drive and his unromanticized portrait Neil Armstrong in First Man. Because Gosling had a habit of working with imaginative filmmakers, like now Nicolas Winding Refn, Denis Villeneuvei Damien Chazellethe film community embraced his “sad boy” image which, in the wrong hands, can be a clichéd and exaggerated archetype.

During Gosling's “hey” days, he dabbled in comedy here and there. His on-screen relationship with Emma Stone started with the romantic comedy, crazy stupid lovewhich has only grown in esteem with audiences since its release in 2011. Gosling's lighter side was once again capitalized on with Stone in La La Landwhich evokes a throwback to classic song and dance performers like Fred Astaire i Gene Kelly in Damien Chazelle's current musical. Gosling's first attempt to demonstrate his sense of humor was not in a film, but rather through viral internet memes. The famous “hey girl” meme, which shows an image of Gosling looking romantically into the camera accompanied by text congratulating the viewer or inviting them to an activity, was conceived in 2008 by a fan blog dedicated to the actor When the meme circulated in all corners of the internet, Gosling decided to join in on the fun. During the press for blue valentine, proved she was in on the joke by reading the text of the memes that centered around her angelic beauty. The shadowy outcast that Gosling often played on screen was never anywhere to be found in the press for any of his films.

'The Nice Guys' subverted Ryan Gosling's serious image

Despite box office results to the contrary, the turning point in Ryan Gosling's screen persona came with Nice guys. Written and directed by the master of the buddy-cop movie, Shane Blackthe film follows a pair of humble private investigators, Holland March (Gosling) and Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), investigating a nefarious conspiracy involving a missing girl and the death of a pornographic actress. The nice guysin addition to being an overlooked gem, features Gosling delivering arguably the funniest screen performance of the last decade. His take on the private spoiling over his head is a tour de force, providing the screen with charm, humanity and, above all, plenty of laughs. He nails Black's witty dialogue and reveals his moxie for slapstick comedy. While Gosling's Holland March is a sad, lonely man who feels disconnected from the rapidly changing times, Black draws dark humor from his misery and foolish tendencies.

After 2016, year of The nice guys i La La LandGosling's productivity slowed considerably, and his follow-ups, Blade Runner 2049, First Mani The gray man, were met with underwhelming box office returns (relative to their budget) or mixed reviews. In 2023, Gosling proved that he wasn't just Ken, he was a comedic dynamo. His Oscar-nominated performance a barbie was one outstanding performer in the cultural giant. Ken reinvigorated our admiration for Gosling, who realized that humor, not the angst wrapped beneath his physical beauty, was his greatest asset. Similar to yours nice guys In this role, Gosling uses his innate charm and beauty as a cover for his vulnerability and fragile ego, mocking the absurdity of toxic masculinity in Barbie Land. The Fall Guy also takes advantage of Gosling's new goofiness as he plays hapless stuntman Colt Seavers, who is desperately vying for the affections of his director, Jody (Emily Blunt).

What makes Ryan Gosling such a great comedic actor?

Few could have predicted Ryan Gosling's pivot to goofball mode, though this breakthrough is something he has been building towards for years. While it's easy to reduce Gosling's dramatic work to “sad boy” exercises, his performances in Half Nelson i To drive they are poignant reflections on the tortured mind trapped inside a picturesque physique. Gosling's career path resembles that of brad pitt, the most famous example of a “character actor trapped inside a leading man's body.” After Pitt became a movie icon in the early 1990s, he quickly moved on to tough roles in 12 monkeys, Septemberi fight club to show off his dramatic cuts. In the 2000s, as he learned to rely on his innate charisma, he became a natural comedic presence, especially in the Ocean's Elevate trilogy

In Gosling's case, his electric comedy shows Nice guys, barbiei The Fall Guy are demos of a star using his screen persona to subvert expectations. For someone who became synonymous with a soft image, hearing Gosling's panicked scream at the sight of a murder or seeing him fall off a ledge. The nice guys it has no price The key to the actor's transition to comedy is his sincerity. When drama stars go for laughs, they tend to be outrageous, which makes the performance cheesy. Gosling's comedic roles bring heart and soul along with his laughs. The audience is tempted to mock Holland March relentlessly The nice guys or Ken from barbieBut Gosling is too charming and likable to despise.

By no means was Ryan Gosling, a staple of auteur films, in dire need of a career boost, but deep down, We are all happy that he has carved a corner as one of the funniest actors in the industry. Gosling recently said The Wall Street Journal that, for the betterment of his personal life, he has been rejecting “dark roles”. For now, the actor wants to make them laugh. A cousin of the crisis surrounding the lack of movie stars in Hollywood is the dearth of studio comedies in mainstream cinema. Gosling, thanks to his infectious personality and his audacity in submitting to the jester, he is the ideal comedy star; it just took him a few years to recognize it.

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