The “beautiful” actor who inspired Ryan Gosling: “He could dance and kick your ass”
Ryan Gosling really has done it all in the world of entertainment; having started his career as part of the revived Mickey Mouse Club, he would go on to flip-flop dramatically between ‘serious actor’ and ‘silly movie star’ roles over the next several decades.
For every Lars and the Real Girl, First Man, and Drive, there’s been a Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Notebook, and Barbie. Luckily for Gosling, he can do both very well.
One of his most celebrated roles was in Damien Chazelle’s tale of Hollywood and jazz-streaked heartbreak, La La Land. The Canadian starred opposite Emma Stone as an aspiring jazz musician looking out for his dreams when his priorities are challenged by the prospect of a debilitating romance. The movie was one big homage to the glory days of the musical, with Stone and Gosling drawing many comparisons to those stars; as it turns out, that suited one half of the duo to a tee.
During an onstage interview at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Gosling’s love of the era was picked at by the interviewer interested in the star’s relationship with Gene Kelly, a subject on which he was happy to elaborate.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a dancer,” he revealed. “I liked that… there was like a masculinity about him, and the way that he danced, he felt like he could dance and kick your ass. He was, like, tough… and graceful, and he just was like a beautiful balance of things… I didn’t know at the time that he was really one of the major driving forces between so much of what he did. He wasn’t just an actor; he was a choreographer and co-director, and you can feel that in his performances that it’s more than just a performance. It’s part of a greater vision.”
Alongside Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, few people embody the spirit of the Golden Age musical quite as succinctly as Gene Kelly, as he enamoured audiences in favourites like An American in Paris, On the Town, and with the widely-celebrated use of a lampost in Singin’ in the Rain. As well as helping to get audiences through the door with his dance moves, Kelly also worked behind the scenes to actually make the pictures happen. He formed a partnership with Stanley Donen that generated several major hits, most of which were choreographed by the star in an attempt to make dancing more appealing to the average American.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most respected geniuses, he had a dark side. Kelly could be an absolute nightmare behind the scenes, letting his ego run wild at the expense of his fellow cast and crew. He bullied Debbie Reynolds so harshly on the set of Singin’ in the Rain that she once had to hide under a piano so people wouldn’t see she’d been crying.
He may not have always been nice away from the screen, but on it, Kelly was untouchable. Gosling is completely correct to idolise his work, just as long as he doesn’t repeat some of his less savoury personal behaviour.
