La La Land director Damien Chazelle says Ryan Gosling, who has starred in two of Chazelle’s films, has mastered the art of acting.
La La Land director, Damien Chazelle, says that Ryan Gosling has mastered acting. Gosling began his career as a child actor on The Mickey Mouse Club before working on popular shows Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Goosebumps. By 2000, he landed a supporting role in the hit sports film, Remember the Titans, costarring with Denzel Washington, Donald Faison, and Will Patton. However, his breakout role came in the film The Notebook, a romantic drama based on the popular Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name. Starring opposite Rachel McAdams, the film showcased Gosling’s charm as well as his intensity. This led him to a series of strong roles in such films as Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, and Drive before partnering with Chazelle for 2016’s smash musical hit La La Land.
A passion project for the young director, La La Land starred Gosling as a struggling jazz musician who collides with a hopeful actor played by Emma Stone. The two start a passionate romance as they struggle to turn their dreams into reality. The film was met with critical praise and scored big at the box office, pulling in nearly $450 million. Gosling received an Academy Award nomination for his captivating performance. Chazelle and Gosling continued their partnership with First Man, another strong drama that centered on the life of Neil Armstrong (Gosling) as he attempted to become the first man on the moon.
In a recent interview with EW, Chazelle claimed that Gosling has mastered the craft of acting. The director praised the actor’s ability to emote stating that Gosling can convey “a ton by seeming to do very little.” Chazelle compares the star to famous silent film actors who had to illustrate much of the scene with facial expressions. The director states that “Ryan is one of the handful of people today who have really mastered that art form.” Read all of what Chazelle said below:
“In a way, it’s the same thing you can say about a lot of the greatest film actors. Something that feels like it’s fundamental to film acting as opposed to other kind of acting is the art of conveying a ton by seeming to do very little.”
“It goes back to the earliest silent film actors, if you think of [Charlie] Chaplin or [Rudolph] Valentino. There’s a few people, not many, who, if you just park the camera on their face they can tell a whole story with only the slightest fluctuation of the brow or their eyebrows or their lips or even with no movement at all. Just holding a certain kind of expression.”
“Ryan is one of the handful of people today who have really mastered that art form. Acting as an art form has existed for millennia, it’s one of the oldest art forms we have. But the art of film acting is still much younger, and something that is really specific to film acting is being able to convey a whole saga in a close-up.”
Chazelle’s comments are some of the highest praise any director can give to an actor. The filmmaker has directed an assortment of top Hollywood talent such as J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, Stone in La La Land, Claire Foy in First Man, and Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Tobey Maguire in Chazelle’s upcoming period drama, Babylon. Singling out Gosling for his tremendous acting skill not only shows how far the star has come since his days as a Mouseketeer with Disney, but also the respect Chazelle has for him.
Gosling has continued to prove himself time and again over his career as an actor, earning two Academy Award nominations, four Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, and five Golden Globe nominations, with him winning one for La La Land. Following his recent partnership with the Russo brothers for their Netflix action film, The Gray Man, Gosling is set to star as Ken in director Greta Gerwig’s upcoming romantic-comedy, Barbie. With the actor only 41 years old, if he chooses, Gosling still has a long career ahead of him with decades to wow audiences with compelling performances.
