As Barbie passes the billion dollar mark at the box office, it’s safe to say that we are all feeling the Kenergy right now, but long before Ryan Gosling put in a sublime performance as Barbie’s horse-loving sidekick, he’d already proved that he was one of the most versatile performers in Hollywood.
From his Oscar-nominated turn in dreamy musical La La Land to his beloved performance as Noah in perennial tearjerker The Notebook to more intense projects like Drive, everyone will surely have their favourite.
But former child star (and ex-Mouseketeer) Ryan has been in the business a long time, meaning that there are plenty of TV series and films on his CV that might have slipped under your radar.
From an early appearance in a classic 2000s kids show to courtroom dramas, here are 11 of the star’s roles that you’d probably forgotten about…
Goosebumps
If you’re a 90s kid, the mere thought of the Goosebumps theme tune, with its eerie piano opening, is probably still enough to give you nightmares. Child star Ryan appeared in the classic season one episode Say Cheese And Die in 1995, based on the novel by R. L. Stine, and played Greg, a youngster who chances upon an old camera lying around and becomes something of an amateur photographer.
Things take a spooky turn, however, when the photos start to predict unpleasant goings-on. When Greg snaps a picture of his dad’s car, it gets damaged in an accident. And, in the most sinister twist of all, when he photographs his friend Shari, she doesn’t appear in the picture, and later goes missing. The chances are that Goosebumps is a little (OK, a lot) less scary than you remember it, but it’s still plenty of nostalgic fun.
Goosebumps: Say Cheese And Die is available to buy on Apple TV+
Young Hercules
When Ryan was just 17, he was cast as the lead in this epic kids’ series, inspired by the myths of ancient Greece. It’s all about the adventures of, well, a young Hercules, following him as he learns how to become a great warrior under tutelage of a centaur named Cheiron.
He soon makes friends with Prince Jason (of Jason And The Argonauts fame) and an ex-con named Iolaus, but at the same time, his half-brother Ares, god of war, keeps trying to kill off Hercules, so that he’ll be restored in their father Zeus’ father.
The series, which comprised 50 episodes and ran from 1998 to 1999, required Ryan to relocate from Canada to New Zealand for filming; once there, he took martial arts lessons with the same trainer who taught Lucy Lawless for her role in Xena: Warrior Princess.
Young Hercules is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
Remember The Titans
One of Ryan’s first ever film roles came in Remember The Titans, the 2000 movie which tells the true story of Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington), the coach who attempted to integrate the football team at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, in the early 1970s.
He plays Alan Bosley, one of the white players on the team, whose father kicks off when he’s replaced by Donald Faison’s Petey Jones; Alan, however, is much more pragmatic – he just wants what’s best for his squad, and ends up telling his coaches that Petey is much more deserving of a spot on the pitch than him. When he finally ends up getting called back to play, he excels. Oh, and he also gets to channel that Kenergy in one memorable dance scene.
Remember The Titans is available to stream on Disney+
The Believer
Ryan plays Daniel Balint, a violent neo-Nazi, in this hard-hitting film from 2001, which is loosely based on a true story. However, Daniel is hiding a secret from his co-conspirators: his family are Jewish, and he was once a yeshiva student, who spent his days reading Rabbinic literature. After questioning his faith, and surprising his teachers with some orthodox interpretations of the scripture, Daniel has turned against his heritage in a truly shocking way.
Given the themes it grapples with, The Believer certainly doesn’t make for light viewing, but Ryan earned plenty of praise for his performance, with Variety hailing him as “outstanding” in a “difficult leading role”.
The Believer is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
The United States Of Leland
Here’s another one with pretty harrowing subject matter. The United States of Leland – released in 2003 – sees Ryan play a shy, meek young man who, we learn at the start of the film, has committed a shocking and brutal act, killing the disabled brother of his former girlfriend.
While he is in prison awaiting a trial, a teacher at the facility (played by Don Cheadle) attempts to understand why he did it, and decides to write about the case.
The United States Of Leland is not currently available to stream in the UK
The Slaughter Rule
This indie movie from 2002, which was a contender for the Grand Jury Prize at that year’s Sundance Film Festival, sees Ryan take on another troubled young man role. “It’s not that I’m attracted to dark roles,” he told New York Magazine at the time. “I’m just attracted to good writing, and these are the best scripts that I’ve read.”
This time, he’s Roy Chutney, a high school senior with a fraught family life. His father’s suicide leaves him devastated, and things don’t improve when he loses his prized place on the high school football team soon after.
However, Roy’s sporting prowess catches the attention of local oddball Gideon (played by David Morse), who heads up an unofficial local football team and has soon recruited the youngster to join his squad. It’s the pair’s performances that make the film, according to the critics, with one TV Guide reviewer writing: “The film’s real strength lies in two excellent performances, from veteran morse and up-and-comer Gosling.”
The Slaughter Rule is not currently available to stream in the UK
Murder By Numbers
Inspired by the Leopold and Loeb murder case, in which two students kidnapped and murdered a young teenager in a cold-blooded attempt to pull off the ‘perfect crime’, Murder By Numbers sees Ryan play Richard, a high school kid who’s wealthy, popular, clever – and psychotic.
Along with his friend Justin (Michael Pitt), he sets out to commit murder just to see whether they can get away with it, planting evidence that implicates their drug dealer. Detective Cassie Mayweather (played by Sandra Bullock) is assigned to the case with her new police partner (Ben Chaplin). She is convinced of the pair’s guilt, but the evidence points in other directions, and the boys seem to have alibis.
Even if you’ve forgotten the 2002 movie, you might remember that Ryan and Sandra went on to date for almost two years after meeting on set. The actor later suggested that their careers in the spotlight made things difficult, telling The Times: “Show business is the bad guy. When both people are in show business it’s too much show business. It takes all of the light, so nothing else can grow.”
Murder By Numbers is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
Stay
This mind-boggling 2005 psychological thriller will probably leave you scratching your head. Ryan stars as Henry, a depressed student who is paired up with a new psychiatrist, Sam, played by Ewan McGregor, when his usual practitioner is suddenly put on leave. Henry believes he has the power to predict future events, and tells stories about his family that don’t seem to add up. When he disappears one night, Sam feels compelled to try and track down his troubled patient.
The film, which was written by future Game Of Thrones co-showrunner David Benioff, ended up being a huge box office bomb, and the reviews weren’t great either. Perhaps this is one for the most dedicated Gosling completists only…
Stay is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
Fracture
In 2007, a few years on from his star-making role in The Notebook and several months after picking up his first Oscar nomination for Half-Nelson, Ryan appeared in this courtroom thriller. He played a hotshot deputy district attorney who goes head to head with Anthony Hopkins’ Ted Crawford, a man charged with shooting his wife after discovering that she was having an affair with a police detective.
Ryan initially turned the part down, but changed his mind when he learned that he’d be appearing opposite legendary actor Anthony. Clearly the decision paid off, as USA Today claimed that “watching a veteran like Hopkins verbally joust with one of the best young actors in Hollywood is worth the price of admission”.
Fracture is available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
All Good Things
Before true crime series The Jinx, there was All Good Things, a crime drama inspired by the life of property heir Robert Durst. Ryan plays real estate scion David Marks, whose relationship with wife Katie (Kirsten Dunst) takes a dark turn; when she attempts to dig dirt on David’s family to gain leverage in their separation, she completely vanishes. Years later, David is under suspicion for a series of murders, and for Katie’s disappearance.
The 2010 film (and perhaps Ryan’s portrayal) proved an unlikely hit with Durst, who offered to sit down with its director Andrew Jarecki for a series of interviews, after having previously refused to speak to journalists. The recordings would eventually form the basis of HBO docuseries The Jinx; the day before the final episode aired, Durst was arrested for the murder of his friend Susan Berman, and was later convicted, sentenced to a lifetime in prison.
All Good Things is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
The Ides Of March
If all you can recall of The Ides Of March is a hazy memory of that striking film poster featuring Ryan holding a copy of Time magazine up to one side of his face, with George Clooney on the cover, here’s a quick refresher.
In this 2011 political thriller, which is George’s fourth directorial effort, Ryan plays Stephen Meyers, the campaign manager for charming Democratic governor Mike Morris (played by George). He’s idealistic and believes that Mike is the right man for the job – but his relationship with an intern, played by Evan Rachel Wood, will kickstart a chain of events that will throw his convictions into question.
The Ides of March is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video