Before Ryan Gossling lit up the silver screen in films like The Notebook, La La Land, and
the 2017 sci fi thriller reboot, Blade Runner 2049
Before hooking up with co-stars Eva Medes, Sandra Bullock, and Rachel McAdams
Before expanding his resume to include producing, writing and directing; co-owning a Moroccan
restaurant in Beverly Hills; and forming the indie rock band Dead Man's Bones;
Before winning a Golden Globe, an MTV Movie and TV Award, 6 Teen Choice Awards, and picking
up two Oscar nominations, but so far, no Oscar wins...
Ryan Gosling has firmly secured his spot in Cinema, as one of Canada's top 2 sexiest Ryans.
But prior to becoming an Oscar-nominated Hollywood Hunk, Ryan grew up in a religious Mormon home
in Cornwall and Burlington, Ontario, the son of a secretary and a travelling salesman.
In school, he had trouble making friends, was constantly bullied, and struggled to learn
how to read.
But that would change after an audition in Montreal would land him his break out role
a child actor, and a friendship with another famous heart throb.
What's going on guys?
My name's Michael McCrudden, documenting the life and career of sexy, sexy Ryan Gosling,
prior to fame, here for you on Before They Were Famous.
I've done a ton of bios on celebs in the past, including one on Ryan Reynolds, so you'll
want to check that out.
As always, let me know who's next in the comments down below.
Ryan Thomas Gosling was born on November 12, 1980 in London, Ontario, Canada.
His mother, Donna, worked as a secretary.
His father, Thomas, worked as a travelling salesman for a local paper mill.
As a result, the family ended up moving around a lot during Ryan's childhood, and he grew
up mainly in Cornwall, Ontario, and Burlington, Ontario.
Ryan's family were devout Mormons.
And while he has claimed he never really identified with the religion, it influenced every aspect
of his family members' lives.
One possible exception would be the divorce his parents got when Ryan was just 13 years
old.
After which, Ryan and his older sister Mandi lived with their mother.
And according to Ryan, being raised in such a female-dominated environment had a profound
effect on him.
He has said,
“I feel like I think like a woman, because i grew up with my mother and my sister so
I've just been programmed to think like a girl.
I'm attracted to films that have strong female characters because there are strong female
characters in my life.
That's my own reality, so it's a doorway into a world for me.”
One movie, above all others, had a profoundly positive effect on young Ryan.
He decided he wanted to become an actor after watching the film, Dick Tracy.
Performing was a huge part of his childhood.
He performed along side his uncle in his uncle's Elvis Presley tribute act, he sang with his
sister at weddings, and he was also involved with a local ballet company.
Aspiring to Hollywood fame, he also tried to shed his Canadian accent, and developed
his own idiosyncratic accent, based on that of Marlon Brando, because he thought that
would sound more tough.
Another movie that had an important, but far less positive, impact on Ryan's young life
was the action movie, First Blood.
After seeing that movie, he decided to bring a bunch of steak knives to school with him
one day, and throw them at other kids during recess.
He was suspended for the incident, and needless to say, he wasn't a particularly popular boy
at Gladstone Public School.
Ryan was frequently bullied, and said he had no friends at all until he was 14 or 15 years
old.
On top of that, he struggled academically, and had serious trouble learning how to read.
He was evaluated for ADHD, but the doctors found that he did not suffer from the condition.
So, his mother quit her job so that she could homeschool Ryan, and she did this for a year.
When Ryan was 12 years old, in 1993, he took the short trip over to Montreal to audition
for a revival of the Disney Channel's The Mickey Mouse club.
He booked the gig, signing a two year contract and moving out to Orlando, Florida, where
the show was filmed.
The experience introduced young Ryan to show biz, and some other future stars in the entertainment
industry, like his cast mates, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake.
During the second season of the show, Ryan's mother returned to Canada for work.
I guess with the show, and the homeschooling, she figured she'd taken enough time off.
She was gone for six months, leaving Ryan in the capable hands of Justin's mother.
Living in the Timberlake household, Ryan became close friends with Justin, and has stated
that the two continue to be supportive of each others careers.
In 1995, the The Mickey Mouse Club was cancelled.
After returning to Canada, a now teenaged Ryan returned to the regular school system,
studying at Cornwall collegiate and Vocational School, before attending Lester B Pearson
High School.
But his life was not exactly back to normal.
Also in 1995, Ryan booked a gig on the TV series Are You Afraid of the Dark?
More gigs would follow, so at just sixteen years old, Ryan moved to Los Angeles permanently,
to further his acting career.
But unlike most young stars, he didn't take up residence in Hollywood or Beverly Hills.
Instead, he moved to downtown LA, where, he said, people lead more normal lives.
“They don't all have a script in their car.
I live on Skid Row.
You can't filter yourself for reality there.”
But even if he didn't live in Hollywood, he was still immersed in the industry.
In 1996 alone, he appeared in Goosebumps, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, Flash Forward,
Avonlea, Ready or Not, Kung Fu The Legend Continues, Frankenstein and Me, and PSI Factor
Chronicles of the Paranormal. and the following year booked the role of Sean Hanlon in Breaker
High.
The series ran until 1998, but Ryan wasn't about to find himself out of work.
The same year, he got the chance to play the title role in a new series, Young Hercules.
The series finished in 1999.
With his Hercules-related experience, Ryan made an appearance in an episode of the series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
He also worked on a TV movie called the Unbelievables.
But now nineteen years old, Ryan decided he wanted to move on from family entertainment,
into more serious roles.
His agent dropped him at this time.
I guess because you never know what's going to happen when a child star wants to prove
how grown up they are.
But the agent probably instantly regretted dropping Ryan, because his next role would
be in the classic 2000 Denzel Washington football flick, Remember the Titans.
From there, Ryan would score the gritty indie role he was looking for, starring as a Jewish
Neo-Nazi in the provocative film, The Believer.
While a commercial failure, the film received widespread critical acclaim, as did Ryan's
performance.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and established Ryan as a serious
actor for Hollywood insiders to watch.
He received more critical acclaim on his next commercial failure, The Slaughter Rule.
The film grossed just over 13 thousand dollars, but the New York Times identified Ryan as
“major star material.”
His other 2002 film, Murder by Numbers, would do a little better at the box office, but
barely earn back it's 50 million dollar production budget.
The film was loathed by critics, but once again, Ryan was appreciated by critics, and
seen as a diamond in the rough.
Entertainment Weekly described him as,
“A phenomenal talent even in in junk like this”
But Ryan also got something else out of this film, even more valuable than critical praise.
In 2002, he started dating his co star, Sandra Bullock.
The romance would only last until 2003, but still, that's gotta make starring in a terrible
movie worth it.
Also in 2003, Ryan starred in The United States of Leland.
Once again, the movie was not exactly a critical or commercial success, but Ryan's performance
was immune from the hate.
Roger Ebert, who generally hated the movie, wrote,
“Ryan Gosling, a gifted actor, does everything that can be done with Leland, but the character
comes from a writer's conceits, not from life.”
Sure enough, Ryan had succeeded in convincing Hollywood that he had the goods, and would
get the opportunity to make a name for himself for mainstream audiences starring the 2004
film adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Notebook.
Before filming started, the film's producers were already thrilled with what they knew
Ryan could do.
The Notebook would become a sleeper hit, garnering over 115 million dollars at the box office,
and DVD sales of over 11 million copies by 2010.
The movie was nominated for numerous awards, and would receive eight Teen Choice Awards,
a Satellite Award, and an MTV Movie Award.
But behind the scenes, Ryan and his co-star, Rachel McAdams, apparently hated each other's
guts.
As Ryan later recalled,
“We inspired the worst in each other.
It was a strange experience, making a love story and not getting along with your co-star
in any way.”
I guess their convincing performance in the movie, despite not liking each other, showed
just how good both actors truly are.
Either that, or their performances captured something that two didn't even realize themselves...At
least not yet.
Two years after the movie's release, the two bumped into each other in New York.
They got to taking and began to see that they had initially been wrong about each other,
and a romance began to brew.
Basically, it's the plot of any Rom Com.
They hate each other at first, then they meet a couple years down the line by accident,
and everything's different.
They fall in love, and have their fair share of troubles, but in the end it all works out.
As for the rest of the story...
well, actually, the Rom Com romance would eventually come to an end.
They broke up in 2007, and then briefly reunited 2008 before breaking up again, this time for
good.
During his on again, off again, romance with Rachel McAdams, Ryan's career as a Hollywood
leading man flourished.
In 2005, he appeared in Stay.
The next year, he appeared in Half Nelson, for which he earned his first Academy Award
nomination.
Between 2007 and 2010, he was in Fracture, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, and
All Good Things.
In 2011, Ryan started dating yet another co-star, Eva Mendes, who would star alongside him in
the then-upcoming film, The Place Beyond the Pines.
Also in 2011, Ryan would appear in Drive, Crazy Stupid Love and the Ides of March.
In 2013, he would appear in Gangster Squad and Only God Forgives.
In 2014, he and Eva would have their first daughter, Esmeralda Amada Gosling.
In 2015, he appeared in the Big Short, and the next year would be a big one for Ryan.
In 2016, Ryan and eva had their second daughter, Amada Lee Gosling.
He appeared in the Nice Guys, and scored another role of a life time, playing Sebastian in
La La Land.
For the musical, he would have to work on some skills that had gotten a little rusty
over time.
Sure, he could sing and act, but the dancing would take a bit of practice.
La La La would garner Ryan his second Oscar nomination.
The film would also win oscars for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Original
Score, Best Original Song, Best Production Design, and for a very brief moment, Best
Picture.
Then, this happened.
In 2017, Ryan would go on to appear in Song to Song, and will play K in Blade Runner 2049.
The remake of the sci fi thriller classic will also feature the star of the 1982 version,
Harrison Ford.
And from the looks of things, two have already become fast friends.
Ryan is also currently working on First Man, a film about the Apollo 11 mission, in which
Ryan will play Neil Armstrong.
As for the rest of the story, well, we'll have to wait and see, because this is before
they were famous.
My name's Michael McCrudden.
Thanks for watching this video.
Two more suggestions for you down here.
Let me know who's next and I'll see you in another video!