You know, up until recently I had no opinions whatsoever about Ryan Gosling as an actor. He was just a Guy™ to me.
Just one of those Hollywood Handsome men so neutrally conventionally-attractive as to be completely unremarkable (appearance wise). To me, his face was by no means unappealing, nor was it particularly appealing, but rather a secret third thing; default traditionally good-looking enough to swing back around into blandness.
I was vaguely impressed at his general attitude in regards to the Barbie movie, but that only really earned some mild personal respect from me.
I've seen the fanart (love it) and I've seen the GIFs and I think I finally get it. He fits the role. Not just in a "yeah, of course he's Ken, he's the default handsome man" way, but in a real actual "I see and respect the character and I appreciate what he brings to the role" way.
Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace feels like an actual character with real genuine uniqueness and appeal. It's like,, he breathes life into the character, or the character breathes life into him. And knowing how much effort he put into the movie (my dad told me about it) just kinda ups my respect for him as a person.
So it's like,, the first time I've seen Ryan Gosling playing a character and thought that he made the character more unique rather than less. The first time his face felt like the face of a real human rather than a person stand-in. He's not boring to see in Project Hail Mary.
How fitting that it's the one where he chose to make the movie and be the character and figure out what to do with it all.
Perhaps he has simply been being plugged into roles by directors who just wanted to get his name on the poster without being able or allowed to add anything to it personally. Perhaps all this time he has just been misused as an actor. Perhaps I have simply misjudged his capabilities this whole time.
Regardless, if this is what Ryan Gosling looks like when he gets to choose what story he's telling and how he's telling it, I'm looking forward to whatever future projects he might work on.
I see the vision and I respect it.
Ryland Grace has made Ryan Gosling real to me.
