Ryan Gosling on Stardom, Actor Recalls Losing Role to Jared Leto
Ryan Gosling made shocking revelations about his rise to fame as a young hopeful in Hollywood in a candid interview for James Toback's documentary "Seduced and Abandoned."
Today, the 33-year-old heartthrob is one of Hollywood's most sought-after actors, but his career was not an overnight success. Toback's documentary features an interview between Gosling and actor Alec Baldwin where Gosling bluntly describes the not-so-glamorous side of Hollywood. "The Notebook" star even recounted a bleak audition where he lost the role to "Dallas Buyer's Club" star Jared Leto.
Gosling, who got his start as a child on Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club" alongside the likes of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, moved to Los Angeles when he was just 16-years-old, as revealed in "Seduced and Abandoned."
"Everyone's left their families, their homes, their friends, their jobs- to pursue a dream where they know that the percentage of them achieving that dream is never, and they do it anyway," the actor explained of the numerous aspiring actors in Hollywood during his early years.
"And everyone has shared the same dream, and no one's sure if it was a premonition or a delusion, and there's only one way to find out," he added while speaking to Baldwin.
As the sit-down with Gosling progressed, the actor recalled every detail of a particularly difficult point in his career when he lost an audition to Leto, but had to try out for the part anyway.
"You hear the casting directing already negotiating the deal with the guy who got the part- turns out Jared Leto already got it," the actor noted. "Then you go in, you think, I'll just do it as an acting exercise, I know I'm not gonna get it, it's just an experience, you know."
Topping off the experience, Gosling said he left the audition only to find he had received a parking ticket and would later end up in Los Angeles' notorious traffic for two hours.
Today, Leto is up for Best Actor at the Oscar Awards for his role in "Dallas Buyer's Club." Alternately, Gosling recently hinted that he is taking a break from acting.
"I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does," the actor told the Associated Press, referring to his numerous roles over the past two years. "I've been doing it too much; I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and assess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it."