Before becoming our beloved Ken and doing big in Hollywood, Ryan Gosling shared the screen as a child actor with late Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds in 1996’s Frankenstein & Me. Reynolds was known to be not a very friendly face back then. However, when he showed a different attitude to Gosling, the latter thought he succeeded in impressing his high-profile co-star.
Nevertheless, the happiness was short-lived for the Notebook actor. Gosling was shocked to realize that Reynolds’ affectionate behavior was not meant for him but targeted at his mother, Donna Gosling.
The late Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest Hollywood stars and rocked the pop culture world of the 1970s. It was not wrong for Ryan Gosling to attempt to strike a friendship with his much-experienced co-star. Regardless, the scenario played out a bit differently than he expected.
How did Donna Gosling steal Ryan Gosling’s spotlight?
Recently, Ryan Gosling visited Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his new feature, The Fall Guy. Moving forward in the interview, when the host asked him about his experience working with the White Lightning star, he made a shocking revelation. The audience went crazy to know that Burt Reynolds had a big crush on Ryan Gosling’s mother.
At first, Gosling thought, “He took a shine” to him. The Ken actor felt very happy to think that Reynolds “thought there was something special” in him and was always so kind to him. But then only he realized that it was his “really beautiful mom” all along. He added that the legend “was just kind of interested.”
Ryan Gosling wished he could have figured it out sooner that he was the secondary character there, and the “real shine” was for his mom-
It was like I was getting a secondary shine. The real shine was for my mom. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is secondary shine'”
Even though Donna Gosling loved Burt Reynolds’ attention, Ryan Gosling confirmed that “nothing happened” between them. As if the interview was not going crazy enough, Jimmy Kimmell commented that had something happened, Gosling could have shared his name with Ryan Reynolds. The La La Land star stated that the Deliverance star also gave him weird advice.
“He’s like: ‘Let me tell you something, kid: Don’t spend your whole life stepping over diamonds to live with a Cubic zirconia. I was like: ‘I’m 13. I don’t know what any of those things are. I don’t know what any of that is. Stop looking at my mom. I’m right here.’”
Ryan Gosling admitted that it was too much for his teenage version, but he remembers the advice till now. It was indeed one of the Gunsmoke legend’s tricks to impress his mother.
Ryan Gosling hated a major aspect of his critically acclaimed hit
The Canadian star gave one of his best performances in 2016’s La La Land opposite Emma Stone. His role as musician Sebastian in the musical was critically appreciated and even earned him several accolades. He achieved a win at the Golden Globes and an Academy Award nomination for his role.
La La Land’s poster, featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone sporting a beautiful dance move, is also memorable and hints at the mesmerizing vibe of the film. But Gosling is not a fan of his hand placement in the particular scene. He revealed to WSJ Style that the scene haunts him still now, and he wishes he could have altered it somehow.
“There’s a moment that haunts me where we’re dancing, Emma and I. I didn’t know this would become the poster for the movie. We were supposed to have our hands up, and I thought it’d be cool to put my hand like that (shows a flat angle). Even though everyone told me it wasn’t cool, I was sure that [a flat hand] was cooler than [pointing up].”
It must be hard for the Barbie star to look at the poster and think that listening to the others would have made it more appealing. However, it can’t be denied that his magnificent performance overshadows everything in the film.
Ryan Gosling can be seen in The Fall Guy, running in theaters near you, while La La Land can be rented on Apple TV+.
