When somebody asks you to name the best actors of all time, who do you think of? Some of the names on that list could be Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Viola Davis, Jack Nickelson, Johnny Depp. Most times, people think of dramatic scenes with screaming, crying, and dramatic dialogues when they think about “good acting”. While many great actors nail the art of big performances, the actors who master the art of subtlety often get left behind in the conversation. An actor who continues to surpass expectations role after role because of his ability to tune into the smallest details is none other than Ryan Gosling.

He is a man of many faces. There is not a single person in the world that would question who “Ryan Gosling” is. Some know him as the lead romantic in “The Notebook”. Some know him as the jazz enthusiast in “La La Land”. Some know him as that one guy in “Remember the Titans”. Others know him as Ken. It is know wonder that he is one of the greatest actors of our time. Between his acting range, devotion to seep into the character, and his winning charisma, he transcends every moment of screen time into a rich delight. 

The Canadian actor started his career as a child on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club until it was canceled in 1995. After that, he worked a small number of roles on a few kids’ movies and even was casted as the son of Zeus in a Fox kids TV series entitled, “Young Hercules”. Gosling quickly moved away from the television scene and landed a supporting role in “Remember the Titans” that would catch the attention of director Henry Bean.

His first lead role was in 2001 where he played a Jewish neo-Nazi in Bean’s “The Believer”. This role would ultimately forever change his taste in roles often opting to choose the more gritty and emotional characters to play. He starred in three other indies in the early 2000’s before scoring “The Notebook” alongside Rachel McAdams. Gosling became the talk of the town with the romantic movie growing in popularity and with his 2007 performance in “Half-Nelson” earning him his first Academy Award nomination playing a junior-high teacher struggling with a drug addiction. In the same year, he received a Golden Globe nomination playing a man in love with a sex doll in “Lars and the Real Girl”. 

The list of continued awards goes on with scoring another Oscar nominations for “La La Land,” three additional Golden Globe nominations, and also winning a Film Independent Spirit Award and a National Board of Review Award.

Although there are many awards that speak volumes about how great of an actor he is, Gosling often gets left out of the conversation when talking about the best of the best. I believe that this is because of how well he wraps his image into the character he is portraying. Half of the time after watching a movie starring Gosling, I forget that it is even him. He doesn’t just play the character, he is the character.

When thinking about what makes a character compelling to watch on screen, it really boils down to how believable the character is. The more believable, the more the audience looks at the character themself rather than the actor playing them. Gosling manages to transform himself into every character he has played by portraying the right emotion in the right way. He truly excels in showcasing the little details of what makes the character who they are by using movement to his advantage. Gosling changes his body stature to fit the character’s persona, and even takes it a step further by reacting to dialogue in this way. When playing Ken in “Barbie”, he stands up straight, moves his body freely, and is fully committed in the musical scenes. His comedic and silly performance that exudes confidence is in contrast to his performance as the uncomfortable character Lars in “Lars and the Real Girl” where he slouches his shoulders and awkwardly smiles and moves around like he is five years old at the grocery store looking for his mom.

His best performance is in “Blue Valentine” where Gosling not only looks unrecognizable, he acts unrecognizable using his body and facial gestures to communicate his thoughts and feelings pulling the audience toward his vulnerability. From the outside, the character he plays, Dean, should be the stereotypical lousy and negligent father in a broken marriage. However, the audience sees that and still manages to feel bad for the guy. Only Gosling can pull off a stunt like that.

No matter the role, Gosling always seems to nail it. There is not one performance of his where Gosling is giving only half the effort required. Gosling puts his heart and soul into every character he plays and it pays off. He is not just Ken, he is also Noah, Lars, Dean, Sebastian, Driver, and every other character in his repertoire.