Method Acting Gone Wrong: Ryan Gosling's Weight Gain Cost Him the Role
Ryan Gosling, one of Hollywood's most handsome actors, has become a benchmark of good looks for men and the object of admiration for women, thanks to his aristocratically delicate features and slim build.
However, he once decided to change his sexy image for a role he was interested in, and it did not end well.
The 42-year-old Canadian actor has become a household name for his roles in popular movies such as Drive, The Ides of March, and Blade Runner 2049, among others. His most recent role as Barbie's partner Ken has been hailed as perfect casting by fans and critics alike.
Gosling usually plays tough, lean and mean super sexy guys.
However, there was one role Ryan wanted to play that went completely against this type, but things didn't go as planned.
We're talking about Peter Jackson's movie The Lovely Bones, released in 2009. The film is an adaptation of a somewhat bizarre Alice Sebold bestseller about a girl named Susie Salmon(played by Saoirse Ronan in the movie in one of her first big screen appearances), who is murdered by a maniac and watches from heaven the lives of her family and her murderer.
Ryan Gosling was cast as Susie's father, Jack Salmon. After reading the source material and the script, the then-26-year-old Gosling figured the grieving father had to look more mature and heavier, so he put on weight for the role.
Ryan later said in an interview that he went on a diet of melted ice cream and other high-calorie foods to quickly put on the extra weight.
The diet worked, and Gosling gained 28 pounds within a very short period. However, he didn't stop there and grew a beard to look the part. So when he met with the movie's director, he looked like a fat bearded slob.
But director Peter Jackson and the producers were shocked by what they saw, and even though filming was about to begin, they fired Gosling on the spot.
It wasn't something new for Jackson, seeing how he had fired the actor originally cast as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings on the first day of filming. With the Lovely Bones, it was the same drill: Mark Wahlberg was brought in on short notice to play the protagonist's grieving father, and he did a good job in the role.
His contribution, however, went largely unnoticed, with all the laurels, including the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, going to Stanley Tucci, who played the murderer.
Meanwhile, Ryan Gosling got back in shape and swore off such experiments, admitting that being fat and unemployed was no fun.