Ryan Gosling is one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood, with the Mickey Mouse Club veteran turning into one of the most bankable actors in the business.
Gosling has also turned into one of the most reliable actors when it comes to choosing his projects, and we’ve decided to go through and list 10 of our favorite performances from the actor.
Ahead of his 96th Oscars performance of “I’m Just Ken,” we’ll go from the beginning of his career all the way to his 2023 Oscar-nominated performance in Barbie.
Remember the Titans
Gosling’s first big movie project was Disney’s football drama Remember the Titans, where he played cornerback Alan Bosley. His charisma and natural ability to slip into a character played a big role in making this film’s ensemble one of the more memorable ever from a sports drama.
Lars and the Real Girl
Gosling proved his dramedy chops in Lars and the Real Girl, as he played a reclusive man who falls in love with, yes, a lifesize doll. It’s a surprisingly touching film about our innate need for connection, and Gosling’s performance keeps the film from veering into satire by humanizing his Lars into someone you can root for instead of gawk at.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
STEVE CARELL, left, as Cal Weaver and RYAN GOSLING as Jacob Palmer in a scene from the motion picture “Crazy Stupid Love.” Photo by Ben Glass, Warner Bros. Pictures [Via MerlinFTP Drop]
One of the most underappreciated comedies of the 2010s, Gosling is a riot in the comedy opposite Steve Carell, Julianne Moore and his future La La Land co-star Emma Stone. We knew Gosling had range, but this film proved to everyone that he’s a legitimate comedic force.
Drive
Drive is one of the coolest movies ever made, a sleek-yet-brutal action thriller where Gosling plays a getaway driver who must protect the widow of one of his accomplices who is killed in a botched robbery. Gosling’s commanding poise and stone-faced violence, combined with Nicolas Winding Refn’s uncanny ability to pace out the fighting and driving to an unforgettable, synth-heavy score, makes Drive one of the actor’s most memorable projects and performances.
The Big Short
Gosling’s smarmy-yet-likable banker leads us through Adam McKay’s banking satire The Big Short, a brisk, irate film that shows us in entertaining detail how the financial collapse of 2008 came to be. Gosling’s just part of an impressive ensemble, but he’s an underrated cog that makes the movie tick with his ability to guide us through the first pathetic embers of a burning American chaos.
La La Land
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in ‘La La Land.’
Gosling is going to be linked to La La Land for the rest of his life, and for good reason. It’s one of the most iconic films of the century, as his and Stone’s musical romance through the highs and lows of life in Los Angeles earned them both Oscar nominations. Gosling’s jazz musician paired so perfectly with Stone’s aspiring actor, as this bittersweet almost romance doesn’t work without Gosling’s sad-eyed struggling artist being swept off his feet by Stone’s charming wannabe star.
The Nice Guys
Gosling’s finest comedic performance is in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys as a hapless private eye who must team up with Russell Crowe to find a missing teenager in 1970s Los Angeles. Gosling is an absolute scream in this movie, one that proves that the actor can literally do anything.
Blade Runner 2049
Denis Villeneuve’s striking sequel to Blade Runner centered so much on Gosling’s replicant protagonist, as he brings in his Drive swagger and imbues it with the same forlorn noir sheen that made Harrison Ford’s performance in the original so impactful. Seeing those two together in one of the real movie miracles of the 2010s was so fantastic, and Gosling paired so well with Ford’s gruff empathy.
First Man
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 24: Ryan Gosling attends the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776106839 ORIG FILE ID: 2036461153
Gosling reunited with his La La Land director Damien Chazelle for this solemn, mournful look at Neil Armstrong’s journey to the moon, and this might be the actor’s best performance of his career. The steely determination to show Armstrong pushing through personal tragedy to make history showed both Chazelle’s talent behind the camera and Gosling’s breathtaking portrayal of a legend.
Barbie
Gosling’s hysterical, sad-sap relatable performance as Ken in Barbie is among the best in his career, as he leaned into that uncanny comedic timing to create a character that’s one part Jerry Lewis, one part Andy Samberg in Hot Rod, full macho insecurity hilarity. “I’m Just Ken” is one of the finest moments of his career, and it’s part of why he got his third Oscar nomination for this.
