Silke Jasso
Sometimes, method actors go through a lot for the roles they land. Christian Bale has lost and put on weight for multiple roles. Actors and actresses cast in Hollywood superhero movies often work with a personal trainer and nutritionist on a short schedule to achieve a specific physique. Ryan Gosling is no different.
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Ryan Gosling’s Vision
Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel The Lovely Bones was originally slated to have the La La Land actor featured as Jack Salmon. Gosling was mentally invested in the character and physically committed to the role. In his mind, the grieving father was 210 lbs. So, he did what he could to get himself there. “Doing what he could” consisted of melting and drinking Haagen Daz when he was thirsty.
According to Ryan Gosling, Peter Jackson did not agree with his view of the character and dropped him in 2007 right before production began. Hired at 150 pounds, Gosling put on sixty pounds and showed up for production weighing 210 pounds!! Peter Jackson was not on board with that.
Two Sides of the Story
There are two sides to the story, apparently. Gosling stated, “We didn’t talk very much during the preproduction process, which was the problem…It was a huge movie, and there are so many things to deal with… I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong.”
Peter Jackson’s wife, Fran Walsh, on the other hand, gave told a slightly different story to The Hollywood Reporter. Her side of the story stated, “Ryan came to us two or three times and said, ‘I’m not the right person for this role. I’m too young”. In response, they told him, “No, no, no. We can age you up. We can thin your hair.’ We were very keen…It wasn’t until we were in preproduction and we had the cast there that it became increasingly clear.
Apparently, Gosling was so uncomfortable moving forward with the production, that producers began to feel like he was not right for the work. She continued, “It was our blindness, the desire to make it work no matter what.”
So, as we all know, The Lovely Bones moved forward with Mark Wahlberg in the role of Susie Salmon’s father.
