Ryan Gosling

Ryan Thomas Gosling, born November 12, 1980 is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club (1993–95) and went on to appear in other family entertainment programs including Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995), Goosebumps (1996), Breaker High (1997–98) and Young Hercules (1998–99). His first serious role was as a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer (2001), and he then built a reputation for playing misfits in independent films such as Murder by Numbers (2002), The Slaughter Rule (2002), The United States of Leland (2003) and Stay (2005).

Gosling came to the attention of a wider audience in 2004 with a leading role in the romantic drama The Notebook, for which he won four Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Movie Award. His performance as a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson (2006) was nominated for an Academy Award and his performance as a socially inept loner in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. In 2007, he starred in the courtroom thriller Fracture.

After a three-year acting hiatus, Gosling starred in both Blue Valentine and All Good Things in 2010. The former performance as a frazzled husband earned him a second Golden Globe nomination. 2011 proved to be a landmark year for the actor as he appeared in three mainstream films – the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, the thriller Drive and the political drama The Ides of March – and received two Golden Globe nominations. He is due to appear in five upcoming films: the period crime feature Gangster Squad, the generational drama The Place Beyond the Pines, the revenge drama Only God Forgives, Terrence Malick's Lawless, and a remake of the sci-fi film Logan's Run.

Gosling's band, Dead Man's Bones, released their self-titled debut album and toured North America in 2009. He is a co-owner of Tagine, a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. He is a supporter of both PETA and the Enough Project and has travelled to Chad, Uganda and eastern Congo to raise awareness about conflicts in the region. He has had relationships with actresses Sandra Bullock (2002–03) and Rachel McAdams (2005–08) and lives in New York City.

Gangster Squad, a 1940s crime drama, is set for release in October 2012. The actor will portray Sgt. Jerry Wooters, an LAPD officer who attempts to outsmart mob boss Mickey Cohen. The director is Zombieland's Ruben Fleischer and Gosling has said, "it’s very, very different tonally from his other films.

Gosling has also completed work on the generational drama The Place Beyond the Pines, directed by Blue Valentine's Derek Cianfrance, and has described it as "the best experience I have ever had making a film. The film is set for release in 2013. Gosling will portray Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider who robs banks in order to provide for his family.

In his second collaboration with Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, Gosling will begin shooting Only God Forgives in Bangkok, Thailand in February 2012. The story revolves around Gosling's mother, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, who orders her son to avenge his brother's death. Gosling has described the script as “the strangest thing I’ve ever read and it’s only going to get stranger. He has already begun Muay Thai training in preparation for the role.

He is attached to two other films which do not yet have official production dates. The first film is Terrence Malick's Lawless. The film will costar Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Haley Bennett. When asked to provide details of the film or his role, Gosling replied, "I can't comment. A chatty cathy that one. He is also scheduled to appear in a remake of the sci-fi film Logan's Run, again directed by Winding Refn. He has yet to see the original film.

In 2007, Gosling made making a solo recording called Put Me In The Car available for download on the internet. Also that year, Gosling and his friend Zach Shields formed indie rock band Dead Man's Bones. The two first met in 2005 when Gosling was dating Rachel McAdams and Shields was dating her sister, Kayleen. They initially conceived of the project as a monster-themed musical but settled on forming a band when they realized putting on a stage production would be too expensive. They recorded their self-titled debut with the Silverlake Conservatory's Children's Choir and learned to play all the instruments themselves. Gosling contributed vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar and cello to the record.

The album was released through ANTI- Records on October 6, 2009. Pitchfork was won over by the "unique, catchy and lovably weird record" while Prefix Magazine felt the album was "rarely kitschy and never inappropriate. However, Spin Magazine felt the album "doesn't reverse the rule that actors make dubious pop musicians" and Entertainment Weekly criticized its "cloying, gothic preciousness".

In September 2009, Gosling and Shields had a three-night residency at LA's Bob Baker Marionette Theater where they performed alongside dancing neon skeletons and glowing ghosts. They then conducted a thirteen-date tour of North America in October 2009, using a local children's choir at every show. Instead of an opening act, a talent show was held each night. In September 2010, they performed at Los Angeles' FYF Festival.

In 2011, the actor spoke of his intentions to record a second Dead Man's Bones album. No children's choir will feature on the follow-up album because "it's not very rock 'n' roll.

Gosling lives in New York City. He co-owns Tagine, a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. He bought the restaurant on a whim and spent "all my money" on it. He spent a year doing the renovation work himself. Gosling oversees the restaurant's menus.

Gosling dated American actress Sandra Bullock for a year from 2002 to 2003. He had a two-year relationship with Canadian actress Rachel McAdams from mid-2005 to mid-2007; they briefly reunited in 2008. Following their split, he described McAdams as "one of the great loves of my life". Gosling began dating American actress Eva Mendes in September 2011.

Gosling is supportive of various social causes. He has worked with PETA on a campaign to encourage KFC and McDonalds to use improved methods of chicken slaughter in their factories. Gosling volunteered in Biloxi, Mississippi in 2005, as part of the clean-up effort following Hurricane Katrina. He is a supporter of Invisible Children Inc, a charity which helps children affected by the LRA in Central Africa. In 2005, Gosling travelled to Darfur refugee camps in Chad. He was a speaker at Campus Progress's National Conference in 2008 where he discussed Darfur. As part of his work with the Enough Project, he visited Uganda in 2007 and eastern Congo in 2010.