Ryan Gosling: The classic outsider

When it comes to Ryan Gosling, most people tend to identify him as a sex symbol for today’s generation. But he should more properly be seen as a classic outsider, someone who thrives on playing characters on the fringes of society. That kind of assessment also sits well with the actor himself, a natural born iconoclast who looks at the world very differently from most people. But having spent several years working on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club it was likely that acting would feed his active imagination.

“I’ve always had a different perspective on things,” Gosling admits. “Everything about my upbringing and childhood was pretty odd although I enjoyed it. I liked acting and once I realised that I was good enough at it to be able to make a living [] that pretty much set me on my way.”

His new film, Only God Forgives, sees him play a Thai boxing club manager involved in the local crime scene who brutally makes his way through the underworld of Bangkok in search of his brother’s killer, a mysterious figure named Chang. It’s arguably the most extreme role of Gosling’s career, and reunites him with Nicolas Winding Refn, the Danish director who helmed Drive, the dark 2011 cult film that most critics hailed for its noirish intensity.

Though Only God Forgives was part of the competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Gosling skipped the event because he was in the midst of directing his first feature film, How to Catch a Monster, co-starring his Drive co-star, Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame, and his girlfriend of the past year, Eva Mendes, who worked with him on The Place Beyond the Pines.

In person, the 32-year-old Gosling is affable and utterly unconcerned with the trappings of fame. For our chat, he was wearing a worn leather jacket, faded blue jeans, and red high top sneakers.

He lives modestly and enjoys travelling in Europe whenever he can in addition to his charitable work in Africa working for different relief organisations.

Your new film Only God Forgives is attracting lots of attention for its violence and sparse dialogue. What are your impressions?

I feel almost as if I’m playing an extension of the character I played in Drive which is a film that I see as kind of a strange dream. But this time Nicolas takes us to a much darker space and it’s a pretty nightmarish world my character has to inhabit. I loved the idea that he wanted to strip down everything to a very minimalist level and eliminate a lot of dialogue. There’s often too much dialogue in films anyway and when you cut out a lot of talking you open up a space where audiences can follow the story on a more visceral and visual level. It’s taking a risk but those are the kind of risks you want to be able to take as an actor, too.

Do you enjoy playing characters in this minimalist vein?

I remember since I was a young actor playing characters who are always talking a lot. But I think you can communicate emotions just as effectively and maybe more so when you speak less rather than more. That’s how I felt about my character in Drive and now this film (Only God Forgives) takes that process even further. You’re also stimulating the imagination of audiences more by forcing them respond to you in a different way and maybe more intensely because you’re talking less and they have to think and feel more about what’s going on in your head.

How did you feel about some of the violent and graphic scenes depicted in Only God Forgives?

Well, there’s a scene involving my character Julian opens up (a dead character’s body) and it so happened that my family was visiting me on the set that day. It probably wasn’t the best time for that but things worked out that way.

So here I am with (the character’s entrails) in my hands and my mother is sitting behind the camera monitor and watching everything. But after I did the scene, I saw my mother with a big smile on her face giving me the “thumbs up” sign. I guess she was proud of her son! (Laughs)

Ryan, with your work in films like Drive and the recent A Place Beyond the Pines, you’re being compared to actors like Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando. How do you keep your head from exploding with all the media exposure and celebrity attention?

I try not to think about it. Some actors have the capacity to maintain a mythological aura about them and they can maintain that beautiful fiction. I can’t do it. I have to stay and live very normally or I’d go crazy. I don’t want people to think of me as an idol or icon. That’s not me.

I remember when I first started getting recognition as an actor. It was great to feel that people appreciated your work but until I did The Notebook, I was more hoping and pretending that I was going to be able to make a good living as an actor and that the good films would come my way. A lot of it was about projecting confidence and pretending that things were going to work out for me... You fake it until you make it. (Laughs)

Your career has taken off since films like The Ides of March and Drive came out a few years ago. Do you feel the pressure that comes with suddenly becoming a movie star?

I try no to worry about that. I feel like I’ve been working a lot lately and sometimes you feel your work has kind of taken over your life so I’m hoping to take longer breaks between projects but it’s hard to manage things like that.

My main goal has been to gain enough recognition so that I would have the freedom to choose good films and work with brilliant directors like Nicolas (Winding Refn) and Derek Cianfrance and Terence Malick.

I’ve had those opportunities and I want to keep going in the same direction. If things don’t work out, then it’s my fault and no one else’s because I’m making those choices.

You’re also making your debut as a film director with How to Catch a Monster. How are you approaching that?

I’ve come to appreciate how exposed you are as a director. You’re completely exposed in a way that actors aren’t. As a director, you have nowhere to hide once the film is out and you have nowhere to hide if the reaction is negative.

As an actor, you usually aren’t going to be blamed if a film isn’t received well because you didn’t direct it, you didn’t write the lines, and you didn’t score it. But when you direct a film it’s your neck on the line. So I have some anxiety about the process and I’ve tried to do as much preparation and give as much thought to how I want the film to look as I can.

Did you ask any advice from some of the directors you’ve worked with?

I remember Nicolas (Winding Refn) telling me this famous line (from Francois Truffaut) that on the first day of shooting, you’re filled with ambitions of creating a masterpiece. Then halfway through you’re hoping just to make a good movie and by the end of the shoot you’re just hoping to be able to finish the damn thing!

Do you hope to be able to follow in the footsteps of other successful actor/directors like George Clooney and Clint Eastwood?

I would like to be able to do both. First I just pray that my first film resonates in some way with audiences. Then I’ll see how I go from there. I’m taking the responsibility of directing very seriously and I hope I don’t blow this chance because you never know if you’ll get another chance to direct. But I’ve put everything I have into my film and I would love to be able to direct again.

You tend to play outsiders in your films. Do you feel that way about yourself?

I have a different take on things and in that sense I probably don’t connect to the world the way most people do. I don’t think about that, though. I love to explore the world and get to know people in as sincere and authentic way as I can. I also like to live each day with a kind of freedom and curiosity and not plan too much about what I’m doing today or tomorrow. That’s why I feel I’ve been working so much that I need to get back to that kind of life again. I like a bit of chaos and not planning too much down the road.

Do you think that your different way of looking at the world and the way women seem to perceive you as very emotionally open stems from the fact that you were raised by your mother and sister?

A: I’m sure it does. I didn’t grow up in a conventional way. I never hung out with the cool kids or the tough kids at school and after I started working on TV some of the kids at my school would bully me and tease me every day. I would have to take ballet classes to learn dance moves for my work [on the Mickey Mouse Club show] and obviously stuff like that was going to make me a target at school.

That’s when my mother decided to take me out of school and have me home-schooled instead. My sister became my best friend and there was never that typical brother-sister friction that sometimes goes on in families. She was always very supportive of me and gave me a lot of good advice as I was growing up just like my mother did. I’m very grateful for the education I received.

I loved being able to grow up in an unstructured environment as compared to going to school every day. It might not be good for everyone, but I certainly loved it. I’ve wanted to be an actor since I was eight years old and growing up the way I did is probably the best training you can ever get.

What do you think was your big breakthrough as an actor?

A: It was this film The Believer (about a Jewish man who becomes a virulent anti-semite) which Henry Bean gave to me and that kind of made people take notice. Prior to that I was best known for doing Young Hercules and The Mickey Mouse Club and it made it very difficult for me to audition for roles in serious films. But after doing The Believer I had credibility as an actor and that started opening doors for me and I probably would not have got the role in The Notebook if it hadn’t been for that film, which was another big film for me.

How have you adapted to your status as a new Hollywood sex symbol?

A: You can never get fully comfortable with the illusion that Hollywood creates. Actors are always being turned into heroes and celebrities and it’s a strange process. I started out in this business simply hoping to be able to get to a point where I can work in the movies for the rest of my life. Beyond that it all gets very strange. I don’t see myself in the style of typical leading men and I’ve never even thought of myself as even that handsome by Hollywood standards.

But I like the kinds of films I’ve been making and having so many interesting experiences that take you to different places in life and expand your awareness.

*Only God Forgives releases in the UAE on March 13.