‘The Gray Man’ directors break down how they turned Ryan Gosling into an action hero

Netflix’s highly anticipated action film, The Gray Man, is hitting the streaming platform later this month, and from trailers to behind-the-scenes looks at the film, it’s gearing up to be one of the most successful films of the year.

The Gray Man promises an interesting storyline, kick-ass (pun intended) action scenes, and a star-studded cast including Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, and Regé-Jean Page.

Gosling, a man of many hats, has played everything from the perfect romantic lead to a driver and even a man accused of murder. In The Gray Man, Gosling takes on an exciting role, perhaps more full of action than any he’s taken on before.

So why did the Russo brothers want Gosling specifically? In a chat with Collider, they explained just that. Anthony explained that they really just love the guy.

“And we did think of him fairly early on, and I’ll tell you it was for this reason. Number one, Joe said we love Gosling, so he’s in our consciousness inevitably, but also his qualities. He’s like this master of minimalism. And so if you’re looking for somebody who can disappear into this character and be this figure that can kind of float in and out of spaces, be anonymous, be quiet, be controlled, be disciplined, he lines up. But at the same time, have a very rich inner life and be very entertaining and create charismatic, which lines up perfectly with Ryan Gosling, the character. So it’s uncanny. I remember when he first popped in our heads, you couldn’t think about it any other way because he fits it so cleanly.”

Joe followed up by noting that Gosling’s training in dance helped him to lean into stunt/action work in a way that was unlike anyone they’d ever met — except another fan (and Russo) favorite — and Gosling’s co-star in the movie.

“He trained as a dancer when he was younger, so he has incredible body control. And I think we never met anyone who could do stunt work, stunt fighting as well as Chris Evans, until Gosling. And it really is a different muscle that you’re using. An action movie is using your physical presence in a different kind of way. You have to train for it. There are a lot of safety issues. You have to be really accurate when you’re throwing punches to not hit people or hurt them or get hurt yourself. You have to remember a sequence of punches and kicks that, if you don’t remember correctly, you’re going to get hurt. And he did that in nine action sequences. So this was a Herculean effort.”

Gosling wasn’t just impressive; he was almost other worldly. As action scenes in the trailers show so far, he nailed the whole pack-a-punch thing in several different sequences! It takes a lot of determination, dedication, and talent to carry a role like that.

You can see Gosling as Court Gentry in The Gray Man on Netflix on July 22.