Ryan Gosling has a history of taking on difficult roles: a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer, a crack-addicted junior-high teacher in Half-Nelson, for which he received an Oscar nomination, and a man who loved a blow-up doll in Lars and the Real Girl. His new character is Dean, Michelle Williams' husband in Derek Cianfrance's portrait of a marriage on the rocks, Blue Valentine.
When it comes to choosing a role, says Gosling, "a large part of the consideration for what I want to do is this part of it: what do I feel comfortable talking about and living with, for months or years afterward. At the risk of sounding trite, it's like taking a lover; it may not be someone you marry but you're going to live with the choice."
An actor who often works with independent and first-time directors, he's in a familiar position of having a movie that depends on his fame to make it commercially viable. Does that add to the pressure?
"I think you have to choose films where the material is a lot more important than you are," says Gosling (pictured above in a scene from Blue Valentine). "If you think your performance is going to save the film, you're setting yourself up for a fall."
