One thing I’m not terribly jealous of is this “Baby Goose” nickname people are using for Ryan Gosling lately, but that’s about the extent of everything Ryan Gosling has going for him that’s not pretty awesome. It goes without saying by now that he is one of the brightest young acting talents around today, able to control an entire movie with ease when he wants to, and in a manner unlike anyone since perhaps Marlon Brando, whom Gosling has idolized since an early age. He’s not one of those stars who attracts the shrieks of female fans while inviting resentment from others due to lack of talent. He has the genuine charisma and on-screen talent to make believers out of the biggest pop cultural skeptics.
Mostly, he’s just cool. And not just in the way that most stars seem cool, but he seems entirely unfazed by just about everything. It seems like he’s taken his stardom in stride, and instead of capitalizing on it by cashing in his fame for blockbuster roles, he uses his celebrity to publicize the relatively small and independent titles he appears in, making Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance household names. So he’s got the cool, the look, the talent, and everyone knows it, and he uses it almost entirely for good. The energy around him is all good as a result.
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