Ryan Gosling: ‘I finally got to be an action hero for the first time’

You know what’s nice? Ryan Gosling seems to be in a happy, chilled vibe as he promotes The Gray Man and talks up the Barbie movie. The Barbie movie won’t be out until next year, but the location-filming photos went massively viral, and now Ryan is answering tons of Barbie questions, in addition to leaning into Barbie styling because of his bleach-blonde hair. As Hecate wrote last week, Ryan was playful about the Barbie photos breaking the internet, and now he’s hoping for a “Ken-ergy” movement to happen. He also spoke at length about The Gray Man. Some highlights from his chat with Vanity Fair:

Getting to be an action hero in The Gray Man: “The Gray Man is different from anything I’ve done before. I finally got to be an action hero for the first time, which is something I’ve been wanting to do. I always wanted to make an action movie because I loved watching them growing up. They made me fall in love with the movies…. Making an action film was definitely on one of my to-do lists, but I wanted it to be good. I was so happy that I waited for this opportunity, because this was like the films I grew up with. It’s like those ’80s and ’90s movies. They were fun. The characters had a sense of humor about themselves. Everything was heightened, and there was an escape. When I read this, I thought, This could be like that.”

His improved jokes in The Gray Man: “I get my sense of humor from Sears. It was on sale.”

Gosling with impressed with Chris Evans: “Chris ran mustache-first into his role. He had a lot of fun playing it, and I had a lot of fun playing against it. The night before we shot our fight scene, I stayed late after work to work on the choreography, and I remember thinking about it all night as I was trying to sleep. In the morning, Chris walked in, and he memorized it after seeing it once. And I was like, He’s going to slug me out.”

The crazy action sequences: “It did make me feel a little nervous that they saved it for the last thing we were shooting. It was scheduled very carefully, just in case that was the last thing I ever filmed in my life. Everything in this movie was extreme.”

Playing Ken in the Barbie movie: “I’ve waited my whole life to look like this. I hope this starts a Ken-ergy movement. The Ken-ergy is going to be alive and well.”

[From Vanity Fair]

I love the phrase “ran mustache-first into his role.” It feels like Chris Evans and Ryan probably got along really well? It’s weird to think that this really is Ryan’s first straight-up action film – most actors his age (41) would have at least a couple of Michael Bay-type films on their CV at this point, but not Ryan. He cautiously avoided them until the Russo Brothers came along. I always wonder why Hollywood stopped making those ‘80s and ‘90s-style action movies too. Like, straight up Dad Movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. I guess Gerard Butler does a lot of those movies now. As for Ryan’s “Ken-ergy”… I’m happy that he seems to enjoy his Barbie experience.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Cover Images, Backgrid and Avalon Red.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

33 Responses to “Ryan Gosling: ‘I finally got to be an action hero for the first time’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. SussexWatcher says:

    No offense to him wanting to play action roles but I watched that movie last week and it was the most stupid, nonsensical thing I’ve seen in a while. Even Chris Evans, who I enjoy more than Ryan, was awful. A total waste of time IMO 😬

    • Anita says:

      there were so many scenes of torture that we stopped in the middle. I was amazed that Netflix rated the film 13+.

    • FHMom says:

      I generally like action escape movies, but that fun was not good. Gosling and Evans were very watchable, though.

    • SaraTor says:

      I tried to turn my brain off and enjoy but the second half was just really silly. It devolved into a really predictable storyline that the actors did their best to carry, but it was so hard to keep suspending disbelief as it got more ridiculous. I really like action movies and I don’t mind over the the top action or plots but there has to be some kind of thread running through that you can believe in, like the emotions of the characters.

    • Merre says:

      Agree. My husband and I watched it last weekend and I was ready for some 90s-type action (thinking The Rock and Face/Off), but I was kind of bored. I got a Jason Bourne energy, but not as smart. I also thought Chris was underused. For being the big bad guy, he wasn’t in that many scenes and then it was just over.

      Glad I didn’t pay movie ticket prices to see it.

    • Ramona says:

      Yup😬 I saw a harsh critic on it,Pashiba I think or the Guardian, but I have Netflix and wanted to form my own impression and yikes 😳. I expected more from the Russo’s brothers🤷‍♀️

      • SarahCS says:

        Yeah I read the Pajiba review and decided to gIve it a pass as I usually agree with their take on movies. Which is a shame as I’d love to watch him in a good action movie.

    • Regina Falangie says:

      Yes!!! I watched it too and it was LAUGHABLE how ridiculous it was!! The garden maze???????? Like, who read that and thought, yes we need to make this happen. Ana’s character wasn’t even 2 dimension, there was barely 1 dimension! Which wasn’t her fault, it was how it was written. I’m just surprised that they all signed up for this. The humor Ryan talks about was so cringe. Chris Evans was brilliant in his role and his character is why I watched until the end. “It stings!!!!!”The rest of the movie was insultingly bad.

      • Ramona says:

        I was so disappointed in Ana’s character. She joined the project later and I thought it would be a good role but it was super disappointing 😒.This coupled with MM controversy about her accent,she doesn’t need more flops,ugh.

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      I flat out liked it. Was it a perfect action movie? No. The writing wasn’t perfect and some of the chase scenes went on.

      But it was good and I’ll rewatch it.

    • why says:

      CE as a villain is just meh. They piled on every villain cliché on his character

  2. Talita says:

    I really liked the gray man. Everyone involved seemed to have fun with it.

    • Barbiem says:

      Yep. Liked it a lot. It was fun. Funny and I didnt take anything serious. Good popcorn movie.

      • dj says:

        I thought exactly the same thing “good popcorn movie.” My husband and I thought it was better than most anything else this summer at the movie houses. We really liked the sardonic sense of humor throughout. Actors seemed to have a good time and got Anna deArmas some good action too.

  3. K says:

    It was a fun movie to watch on a Friday after a stupid work week. You could tell that Ryan and Chris had fun. They did a great job. Chris Evans was perfect. He practically twirled that villain stache.

  4. Lolo86lf says:

    Oh my Lord have I been under a rock? I am going to watch the grey men today, the trailer looks great. I hope I am not disappointed.

  5. Harla A Brazen Hussy says:

    Hubby and I watched Gray Man and throughly enjoyed it! I really enjoy movies where you get the sense that the actors had fun making it. While I really enjoyed Ryan, I really loved seeing Chris play a complete douche! After being Captain America for so long, it must have been a blast for him to dive mustache first into such a sleazy character.

  6. Malificent says:

    When I read the title, I thought he was talking about the Barbie movie. So I’m thinking — how can Ken be an action hero when he can’t even bend his elbows?

  7. FHMom says:

    My family and I are binging Gosling films because aside from LaLa Land, they are unfamiliar with him. He is really good in every role he plays. Many of his movies are not for kids, but my youngest is 16 and very mature so we’ve been watching them. I think he is now my family’s favorite Ryan, which is huge because they love Reynolds.

    • Harla A Brazen Hussy says:

      Have you seen Lars and the Real Girl yet? It’s really my favorite film of Ryan’s, perhaps my favorite film ever.🙂

    • The Recluse says:

      Watch The Nice Guys with Russell Crowe and Ryan. It’s kind of a film noir – with humor – set in 70’s Los Angeles.
      Then look up their joint appearance on Colbert. Classic.

  8. Nessa says:

    As long as you go into Grey Man without huge expectations, you’ll find a big, dumb, fun movie with likable characters. This isn’t a Christopher Nolan movie, it’s a dumb action movie with a barely there plot and a bunch of actors who are having a ball with it. I really enjoyed it!

    • Wiglet Watcher says:

      Thank goodness it’s not a Nolan film. He only does one style and women are not represented well.

  9. Sunday says:

    I really enjoyed the Gray Man. It was a fun movie and Gosling and Evans were fantastic in their respective roles. I honestly don’t understand all the hate it’s getting. It was way better than the last few marvel movies and the last bond movie, that’s for sure. My only complaint is that I could’ve watched Ryan and Chris fight for like 2 hours straight, yum.

  10. Jack says:

    I liked the Gray Man and loved Evans in his role. Would have liked to see more of him in the movie. My thought on Ryan is that he phoned it in – his parts seemed glib and contributed to the cheesiness of the movie.

  11. LRob says:

    The Russo Brothers wasted an opportunity and should have invested in better writrrs. Ryan and his little family of 4 were my favorites. I thought Chris Evans’s performance was ridiculous and his character just stupid, rather than evi Rege Jean ‘s character wasn’t the least bit threatening. Using my ff button, though I’ve watched the Gosling, Thornton, little girl, and Woodard scenes multiple times.

  12. Ines says:

    I watched it with my husband this week and we both enjoyed it.