RYAN GOSLING
Date of Birth: November 12, 1980
Born to a Mormon family in London, Ontario, Ryan Gosling was raised in Cornwall. Always eager to please, he started performing early, singing and dancing at talent shows and weddings with his older sister. When he turned 12, Gosling sought out a wider audience, auditioning and beating over 17,000 hopefuls to be a part of The Mickey Mouse Club.
After two years on the show, Gosling made appearances in a number of series including Road to Avonlea, Ready or Not, Goosebumps, Flash Forward, Psi Factor, and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Following his first role in a feature film, Frankenstein and Me (1996), he landed a regular gig in the series Breaker High playing Sean Hanlon. The short-lived series forced Gosling to look for work and he earned parts in telefilms, Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy and The Unbelievables and the title role in the New Zealand-filmed series, Young Hercules.
The start of the 21st century splash-landed Gosling into a sea of lead roles in the motion picture industry. After playing a football player in Remember the Titans (2000), he impressed critics with his portrayal of Danny Balint, a Jewish boy turned Nazi, in The Believer (2001) (the latter of which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead). He continued to impress viewers with his convincing turn as playboy
rich-kid-turned-murderer in Murder by Numbers (2002), opposite Sandra Bullock, whom he dated for a while after shooting was finished. Next, he took on the title role of Leland Fitzgerald in The United States of Leland (2004), playing a teen who commits a seemingly senseless murder. Gosling received a 2004 ShoWest Award as Male Star of Tomorrow. In 2005 he shared an MTV Movie Award with his The Notebook (2004) co-star, Rachel McAdams, for Best Kiss. They also shared Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Chemistry, Choice Movie Love Scene and Choice Movie Liplock. He also received Choice Movie Actor: Drama and Choice Movie Breakout Performance - Male for the film.
In 2007 he received an Oscar nomination for his work in Half Nelson (2006), in which he played a drug addicted junior high school teacher, and in 2011, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Blue Valentine.
When relaxing, Gosling enjoys playing music, specifically jazz on guitar and piano, reading, and horseback riding.