On the occasion of his 40th birthday, get the five roles that helped Gosling become a valued and coveted actor, and we try very hard not to mention what he looks like
Squeezing tears.
Gosling in The Diary
The Diary (2004)
Ryan Gosling's first cinematic roles - as a neo-Nazi Jew in "The Believer" and as a serial killer who likes the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in "Formula for Murder" - did attract the attention of critics and mark him as a rising talent, but it was the romantic epic "The Diary" "Who officially made the young Canadian actor a star and a sex symbol.
Based on a book by the kitsch king, Nicholas Sparks, Gosling plays Noah, a poor, sensitive and tormented guy who falls head over heels in love with Bali (Rachel McAdams), a wealthy and pampered girl with unbearable parents.
Gosling made much better films during his career, but none of them made the girls of the world sigh any more.
The passionate kiss towards the end - which comes after years of parting and at the height of a lightning storm - is far from betraying the fact that Gosling and McAdams mostly wanted to murder each other during filming.
They later became a couple.
"Half Nelson" (2006)
After becoming a romantic idol, Gosling could have hit the iron while hot and continued in the same direction.
Instead, he took a sharp and brave turn and decided to star in "Half Nelson" - an independent, low-budget drama in which he plays an idealistic high school teacher addicted to crack (this will not be the last time in his career that Gosling does the opposite of what he is expected to do).
The film - directed by Anna Bowden and Ryan Falk - may not have been a blockbuster hit, but following its impressive and touching performance, Gosling was immediately crowned by critics as "one of the best actors of his generation", and as a chopper, he also received his first Oscar nomination.
The highlight, for me, is Gosling's stunned face when one of his students grabs him with the crack pipe in the bathroom.
"Drive" (2011)
This stylish and brutal action thriller by Danish director Nicholas Windig Rappen has provided Gosling with his most iconic role: an unnamed robbery driver who gets involved with elements in the underworld in Los Angeles.
Gosling re-enacted several more silent and introverted types in later years (a.k.a. "A Place in the Woods," "Only God Forgives," "Blade Runner 2049" and "The First Man"), but none of them was as loud or deadly as The guy he plays in "Drive." And none of them run into anyone's skull with a hammer. Comparisons to Steve McQueen were not long in coming.
"La La Land" (2016)
Gosling's third collaboration with Emma Stone (after the lovable "Stupid, Crazy, In Love" and the awful "Gangster Unit") has yielded a wonderful modern musical in which Gosling plays a stubborn jazz pianist who finds it hard to give up his principles.
His performance, which won him a second Oscar nomination, is dripping with cynicism and bitterness, but behind the apathetic (and absurdly pleasurable) appearance lies a sensitive soul, and although Gosling is far from being an Fred Aster, he also knows how to dance and sing.
Today we remember "La La Land" mainly as the film that lost the Oscar for "Moonlight" at the last second, which is a shame.
Directed by Damien Chazal is virtuoso and dizzying, the songs are sweeping and moving, and the electricity that ignites between Stone and Gosling can illuminate an entire city.
One of the most beautiful (and cinematic) love stories of the last decade.
"Detectives Ltd." (2016)
Gosling has done a number of hilarious roles during his career ("The Money Machine," "Lars and the Real Girl," "Blue Valentine"), but this violent and witty action comedy provided him with the funniest role of them all (for now).
Gosling plays a mustachioed private detective (with a drinking problem and an adolescent girl) who is hooked up with a hired bully (Russell Crowe) to find a missing girl in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
Shane Black, who wrote and directed, crowds the script with sharpened dialogues, amusing bites and rough action scenes.
Gosling and Crow as the two loving males who are forced to cooperate even though they really hate each other - just perfect together.
Hell, even the unpleasant-to-watch scene where Crow breaks Gosling's hand (while Gosling begs and howls like a hot cat) manages to squeeze a giggle.
One of the only movies that really is a pity they did not make a sequel.
