By the age of 12, Ryan Gosling was already taking part in open auditions. He was part of the exclusive 'Mickey Mouse Club', which over the years created several massive Hollywood stars.
However, at the time, it had the opposite outcome, Gosling was dropped by his agent once he decided to get into serious acting, as the stigma of a child actor was too much for his representation... yikes.
Once he scored a supporting role in 'Remember the Titans', his career certainly changed for the better. Shortly after, the roles started to flow and he became among the A-listers in the industry.
However, even at the prime of his career, Gosling faced rejection.
Both sides tell a different story. According to Gosling, he had put on too much weight for a certain role, which caused his dismissal. However, the director stated that Gosling was never really into the project. It would cause Gosling to get released just before production, only to be replaced by Mark Wahlberg.
More news would come out that things weren't exactly in order prior to make the film and in addition, its box office numbers turned out to be a disappointment.
Gosling Is One Of The Most In-Shape Men In Hollywood
Let's make one thing clear, Gosling put on 60-pounds, not out of pure laziness but specifically for the role itself. In truth, he's among the most in-shape actors in the game today.
Taking a look at his workout plan is tiering without even trying it, filled with weightlifting and conditioning.
It all makes sense though, the man looks like he's photoshopped in most films. The likes of David Arquette seem to agree.
"If I can take anybody’s organ, it would have to be one of those vegan healthy people. I would take Ryan Gosling’s, so maybe I can get some of his parts. I just wanna take his parts,” Arquette told Page Six.
Despite that outrageous look, co-star Emma Stone did admit that Gosling has a snacking habit, especially when it comes to Twizzlers.
"He loves Twizzlers. He used to eat so many on set it was concerning. He had them in his suit pocket. Bring him some Twizzlers if you want to get on his good side."
We assume he had some extra Twizzlers on the road to Peter Jackson's film.
He Was Overdoing It With The Weight Gain
On paper, Ryan Gosling alongside Peter Jackson sounds like a must-see partnership. However, behind the scenes, that wasn't the case. During the prep for 'The Lovely Bones', the two had contrasting views as to how Gosling's character should appear. In Ryan's view, he needed to gain weight, which ultimately did not sit well with Jackson's vision.
“We had a different idea of how the character should look,” Gosling told The Hollywood Reporter. “I really believed he should be 210 pounds.”
What didn't help things is the lack of communication preproduction, once Jackson saw Gosling, it was the end of the road for the actor.
"We didn’t talk very much during the preproduction process, which was the problem,” Gosling said.
“It was a huge movie, and there are so many things to deal with, and he couldn’t deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong."
“Then I was fat and unemployed.”
Jackson's team tells the story differently, claiming that Ryan stated countless times that he wasn't right for the role and was too young.
It was apparently made clear during preproduction that he was not comfortable with the role, which would lead to Mark stepping in.
Wahlberg Gets The Gig Just Before Production
Ultimately, the film had moderate success at the box office, bringing in $93 million off an expensive $65 million budget.
In addition, there were multiple problems with preproduction, the film was supposed to be of the small budget variety but once Peter Jackson stepped in as a replacement, the budget skyrocketed upwards.
In addition, Mark Wahlberg was brought in, though even the actor had a tough time with the script early on, given the content involved.
"Because of the way I approach work, I wasn't all that thrilled about the subject matter," Wahlberg explains. "I don't have the God-given talent Rachel does to just snap into it, have these floods of emotion coming out, and then turn it off. I basically had to live in that headspace for the entire time."
Mark did a good job in the role, though we can't help but wonder how the film would've looked with Gosling as the father figure.