How being “inherently filthy” launched Ryan Gosling’s career: “What I was doing was so sexual”
Ryan Gosling possesses an innate ability to charm audiences that has allowed him to prosper in roles like that of Ken in Barbie, certainly the kind of character that would prove a challenge for many.
But to Gosling, stepping into the shoes of a slightly ridiculous singing, dancing plastic doll was a welcome challenge, and one that allowed him to flex his theatrical muscles. He even wound up with an Oscar nomination for his performance, while ‘I’m Just Ken’ was nominated for ‘Best Original Song’. But it wasn’t the first time we’d seen the actor step into the spotlight with such musical flair, of course.
His previous Academy Award nomination came in 2016 for his role in the bittersweet musical La La Land, while more seasoned fans of the actor might be familiar with his indie rock side quest Dead Man’s Bones, which he formed after bonding with Zach Shields over a shared love for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride. It all comes back to Disney for Gosling.
The actor got his start on Disney’s The All New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993, which saw him star as a Mouseketeer alongside the likes of a young Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake… This gave him the connections he needed to kick-start his acting career, although it wasn’t until 2001, when he accepted a role as a neo-Nazi in The Believer, that he’d truly begin taking performing seriously.
But he only got to appear on The All New Mickey Mouse Club because he’d been performing locally from a young age, always managing to steal the spotlight. And he credits his ability to steal the spotlight to his unnaturally “filthy” dance moves that he would bust out rather unexpectedly.
He told GQ that he had “one disgusting, filthy Move that [he] built [his] empire on”. During one performance to the soundtrack of ‘Uptown Girl’, the young Gosling let loose. “I go up onstage and start, like, dryhumping the stage. I’m grabbing my stuff, I’m licking my fingers, I’m going up to grown women and trying to grind their faces. Meanwhile, I’m like, seven, y’know.”
His unusual approach paid off. “I was just inherently filthy. I was born inherently filthy. And then we won. And we got on the front page of the newspaper. And because I was so young, and what I was doing was so sexual, people really liked it. They really supported it.”
One thing led to another, and Gosling’s career soon elevated to the next level. “And then because I won that, I got on a TV show that was like Star Search,” he revealed. “My parents were like, ‘You have to come up with a real routine.’ And – honestly – I said, ‘That’s what I do, it’s my thing.’ And they were like, ‘But it’s disgusting. You can’t do that.’”
Clearly, it worked for him. You can actually find a lot of videos of the young Gosling dancing on stage online, and he’s not lying – he really did thrust his hips, leading the charge as the only boy in the group. You can tell he absolutely loved the spotlight back then, so it’s no surprise that he turned into a Hollywood icon. He had too much potential to let it go to waste.
