Last week, Ryan Gosling announced his intention to take a sabbatical from acting and concentrate on directing duties in the foreseeable future.
Gosling stated, “I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does” in reference to his recent flurry of lead on-screen appearances in the last two years, notably “Drive,” “The Ides of March” and “Gangster Squad.”
Although Gosling has been in the acting spotlight since he was a youngster in the Mickey Mouse Club, along with fellow alumni Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, it is only recently he has broken into the Hollywood A-list. So, why at the tender age of 32 has he indefinitely called time on the prime of his career?
In addition to admitting to AP Entertainment that he had been overexposed, Gosling candidly expressed his dislike of always being the lead man: “There’s a lot of pressure to be the lead of a film,” he said. “I have done it. It’s not my favourite way to work.”
The Canadian actor has been almost exclusively taking on challenging main roles since his 2001 break in “The Believer,” where he controversially played a Jewish Neo-Nazi based on true events. Gosling’s willingness to take on unconventional characters has become something of a hallmark of his acting career with notably strange parts in “Lars and the Real Girl” and “Half Nelson,” playing a man in love with a blow-up doll and a drug-addicted school teacher, respectively.
Although Gosling’s frank admissions about his profession so far are admirable, one must ask whether he has made the right choice to disappear from the silver screen at the peak of his powers.
Idolized by women and envied by men, Gosling is so popular that his semi-retirement has prompted website Blinkbox.com to set up the “Gosline” for upset fans to seek counseling about their hero’s hiatus. Such excessive measures are just one indicator of the actor’s ability to straddle the line between appeasing a cult following while having continued mainstream success.
Not only is Gosling’s decision a blow to his adoring fans but potentially damaging for his acting future. Granted, he has taken on challenging roles that many of his contemporaries would shy away from for fear of damaging their image, yet his acting style has left much to be desired at times.
His roles often comprise him of being an out of touch loner, leading to his characters being shy on dialogue or depth. There is no doubting he is talented but at times it feels as if he is playing the same role in each film. Isolated figures of “Drive,” “Lars” and “Half Nelson” could almost be interchangeable at times. Compared to other famous movie loners such as James Dean, Clint Eastwood and Robert De Niro, Gosling cuts a hollow figure lacking that extra dimension to push him to a higher level.
His recent performances as more ordinary protagonists in “Crazy Stupid Love” and “Gangster Squad” have left a lot to be desired past his ice-cool persona on the surface. Maybe his acknowledgement that “I’ve lost perspective on what I’m doing” is in reference to his difficult transition to the main man of Hollywood and loss of integrity in his current unadventurous performances.
A move into direction with “How to Catch a Monster” could be the break Gosling needs to revaluate his acting career and come back with a new found hunger. Leonardo DiCaprio also announced that he is also taking a break from acting, and Gosling would do well to take the Inception star’s lead as someone who has managed to establish himself as one of the best actors around with inspired and varied roles in “Shutter Island” to “Django Unchained” and “Revolutionary Road.”
Gosling’s last releases before his break are “The Place Beyond the Pines” and thriller “Only God Forgives,” as well as an untitled Terrence Malick film. Only time will tell if Gosling has made the right decision to put his promising acting career on hold but for now we can look forward to his burgeoning role as a director.
Jonathan Smith can be reached at [email protected].
