He's More Than Ken! 10 Things You Didn't Know About Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling may sing “I’m Just Ken” in the billion-dollar box-office blockbuster Barbie but he’s so much more than that!
Here are ten things you probably don’t know about the three-time Oscar-nominated star, who started his acting career at age 12.
1. Born in Ontario, Gosling, 43, is the son of paper mill salesman dad Thomas and secretary mom Donna. Both are Mormon.
Gosling isn’t but said, “There’s good things about going to church. It socialized me at a young age. You have to pray in public, shake a lot of hands, talk in public, sing in church, stuff like that. It has definitely stayed with me."
2. Bullied at school, Gosling fought back and earned the nickname “Trouble.” In first grade, he got suspended for throwing steak knives at classmates after watching the Rambo movie First Blood.
3. At age 12, Gosling landed a Mouseketeer role on The Mickey Mouse Club, and was a bad influence on castmates Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. "I just told them what I heard, like positions and stuff,’” he recalled. “Teaching Britney Spears about s--: Now there’s an achievement!”
4. With The Mickey Mouse Club shooting in Orlando, Fla., Gosling’s mom had to return to Canada, so Timberlake’s mom, Lynne Harless, became his legal guardian and the two became roommates and brothers.
5. Gosling lived in Charleston, S.C., for a month while filming The Notebook with Rachel McAdams. He made good use of his time, building furniture and apprenticing with a cabinet-maker. He boasted, “We made all the Adirondack chairs in front of the house. We shot a scene where Rachel and I consummate our relationship on a table I made.”
6. Gosling and fellow Canadian superstar Justin Bieber are related: They are 11th cousins once removed with ancestry going back to the French folks who moved to Quebec in the 1600s.
7. Word on the street is Gosling twice turned down the honor of "S------ Man Alive” — in 2011 (Bradley Cooper) and 2014 (Chris Hemsworth).
8. Gosling signed on for the 2011 rom-com Crazy, Stupid, Love without reading the script just to share the screen with comic idol Steve Carell, explaining, “I always wanted to work with Steve."
9. Gosling’s girlfriend (rumored wife, but they don’t talk about their relationship) and mom of his two daughters, Eva Mendes, revealed that he’s great in the … kitchen! “He really cooks,” she confided. “I survive."
10. Gosling has a sweet tooth and loves Twizzlers licorice! Confided close friend and La La Land costar Emma Stone, “Ryan can eat more Twizzlers than anyone you’ve ever met.”