Awesome Possum: Ryan Gosling

There are a lot of awesome people - talented, smart, noble, kind and generally all-round cool. But a lot of the time, we take their awesomeness for granted or, even worse, overlook them in favour of  gossiping about trashy reality show contestants and trainwreck celebs. So this is my little corner of the internet dedicated to giving them a little love. I'm going to start with one of my favourite young actors.

Ryan Gosling



Occupation:
 Actor, singer, rocker of beards.

Why is he so awesome?
He's one of the most talented actors of his generation, always willing to take risky and offbeat roles. He's come a long way. He started off on the Mickey Mouse alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. Now he regularly stars alongside people like Anthony Hopkins and George Clooney, and is on the cusp of A-list success. The only reason your gran might now know his name yet is because he prefers interesting indies over giant robot movies.



Oh yeah? Like what?
In Lars and the Real Girl, he fell in love with a Real Doll. In The Believer, he was a self-loathing, neo-Nazi Jew. In Blue Valentine, he was an emotionally stunted charmer in a bad marriage. At the same time, he's versatile enough to do more conventional leading man roles like The Notebook and Crazy, Stupid, Love.



Ooh, The Notebook.
Yeah, and his real-life relationship with his Notebook co-star Rachel McAdams was adorable. He also dated Sandra Bullock so he appreciates fabulous women of all ages.



Anything Else?
He comes across as a thoughtful, grounded guy with enlightened attitudes. On Blue Valentine receiving an NC-17 rating (the highest rating a movie can get in America and box-office poison) for showing a woman receiving oral sex, he had this to say:

“You have to question a cinematic culture which preaches artistic expression, and yet would support a decision that is clearly a product of a patriarchy-dominant society, which tries to control how women are depicted on screen. The MPAA is okay supporting scenes that portray women in scenarios of sexual torture and violence for entertainment purposes, but they are trying to force us to look away from a scene that shows a woman in a sexual scenario, which is both complicit and complex. It’s misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman’s sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than this film. … There is something very distorted about this reality that they’ve created, which is that it is OK to torture women on screen. Any kind of violence towards women in a sexual scenario is fine. But give a woman pleasure? No way. Not a chance. That’s pornography.”

Where can I appreciate his awesomeness?
Head over to the cinema for the following movies. He's a stuntman being chased by hitmen in Drive. He and his abs get together with Emma Stone in Crazy, Stupid, Love. He's also in the upcoming political drama Ides of March.