Ryan Gosling: “I’ve had fantasies of moving to Spain”

Ryan Gosling is one of the most attractive actors in Hollywood, probably the world’s hottest actor and with him we had the opportunity to talk in Los Angeles. In person he is normal, not a diva, maybe because he has been in the spotlight since he was a kid. And make no mistake — that’s what he is; he started out like Britney, Christina and Justin, on The Mickey Mouse Club, age 12. But today, a grown-up 32-year-old, there have been no sex tapes, no drug busts, no whiffs of scandal. Instead, he’s sharply dressed and well-groomed. He’s fit, and good at what he does for living. He’s weirdly normal, aside from being the coolest man on the planet. The ideal man does exist. It’s Ryan Gosling and he is planing to move to Spain...

Q: Do you like Spain?

A: Yes, I love it there. I would love to live there. I’ve had fantasies of moving there.

Q: Really? Like where in particular?

A: Well, just you know, what do you got? Anywhere, you know anyone subletting? Can I take the place?

Q: I’m sure we can arrange something.

A: Okay, cool. We’ll talk then.

Q: Do you speak spanish?

A: Some, yes. I’m not terrible but I’m not good either. I’m learning. In fact I’m trying to read Café Nostalgia from Zoe Valdes in Spanish, but it’s really difficult.

Q: In my last interview with you, you told me that you might not be doing acting forever. Now, you have lined up like four movies. Did your attitude about your craft changed a little bit?

A: I just feel more creative than I used to.

Q: What made you more creative?

A: I don’t know what did it. I just didn’t have the desire for it that I have lately, you know. Before there weren’t very many characters I wanted to play and now I want to play everybody.

Q: What about your band? Do you guys tour? Record?

A: We did and we’re just taking a break now. We made another record in my garage and now we’re trying to make it for real. We made a sketch of the record and we’re trying to find time to make it. I’m full but we have a lot of big dreams for it so it’s going to take a lot of time.

Q: What does music give you that acting doesn’t do or vice versa or is it similar creative process?

A: Well, with music, I make it and, movies, I just help make them, you know… In movies, I don’t write them, I don’t direct them, I don’t edit them, I only play one small part in the process but with music, with my band mate Zach, I’m involved in all of the process so I’m just more involved. It means more to me because I’m more involved in it.

Q: Sounds like it is frustrating to play just a small part. Would you like to be the director, writer?

A: It used to bother me. Now, it doesn’t bother me. Now, I like just playing my part because I have other things that I make so I don’t feel the need to control the films that I work on as much as I used to.

Q: Do you prefer big budget, smaller budget movies?

A: Well, I think I don’t feel prejudice against budget, you know. A small film doesn’t appeal to me more than a big film really. It’s more what the film is about and what will be my part in it. Sometimes it’s good not to have a lot of money. It makes you be creative. You can’t throw money out of problems so you have to find another way to fix it but then again sometimes it is nice to have money because for instance, time is every expensive. Like for instance with Blue Valentine, we spend all of our money on time. We didn’t have any other trailers or special cameras or a lot of crew. We only had a few crew members. We had to spend it all on time. So money can be very helpful too.

Q: Are there actors whose career you’re interested in?

A: I like Eddie Murphy.

Q: It’s funny because he mostly did comedy. Doesn’t sound like you.

A: Yeah but he’s a genius. I mean to be able to play six characters at one time, at one table, and to create six different characters and have them all be different from one another and then be able to have the audience believe that they’re watching six different people at once is, to me, I don’t see how anything tops that. I mean any one character could top six so I admire him for doing that. I don’t think he gets a lot of credit for that but I think it’s very brave and experimental.

Q: On the set, during downtime. What do you like to do?

A: Right now, I’ve been doing Rubik’s Cube.

Q: How well is it going?

A: Pretty good. It took me a while but I can do it. My fastest time is two minutes and 10 seconds.

Q: That is pretty impressive. Did you look it up how to do it?

A: Yeah. I went on YouTube and I learned how. I also learned how to play the ukulele on YouTube. I learned how to play the piano on YouTube. I learned how to do the Rubik’s Cube, I learned how to play the strumstick on YouTube. I learned how to screen print on YouTube.

Q: Before this kind of technology was available, how did you lean stuff then?

A: Well, I try to teach myself or get people to teach me but I wish YouTube was around when I was a kid.There’s so many things I wanted to learn how to do but just couldn’t afford lessons.

Q: Your uncle was an Elvis impersonator. I was wondering if you can do Elvis or can you impersonate somebody?

A: No, I’m not very good at impersonations. I wish I was. My uncle, he was so obsessive about it. He didn’t look anything like Elvis. He had a mustache, a big birthmark on his face and no hair and yet he would become Elvis. He just embodied him and that was very impressive. He would make his own costumes. He lives in our basement and he would just work on his costumes and on his act, obsessively. So I watched him build a character I guess so he sort of taught me how to do it inadvertently.

Q: You went to the Mickey Mouse Club. You lived with Justin Timberlake and his mom. Do you guys still hang?

A: Not really. I see him around but it’s like anything were you’re friends with somebody in elementary school or something, how many friends do you still have from elementary school?

Q: How did you get the abs?

A: I just exercised a lot. Anybody can have them. We all have them. They’re there. You just have to uncover them.

Q: What was your workout like?

A: I don’t like going to the gym. I take gymnastics classes or ballet, those are really good exercise. They’re good for you. They’re fun because you’re learning how to do something. The problem with going to gym is that you just build muscles that you can’t use. It’s boring and they don’t do anything. But if you do something like ballet or gymnastics, you’re developing a skill in the process of getting fit.

Q: Your character kind of like explains how to be man - it’s about all dressing up and stuff to get a woman. Are women really that terrible and superficial?

A: Well, I just know as an actor that the clothes that you wear affect how you feel and help you create a character. A lot of times, a wardrobe designer, if they’re really good will help you to create the character and you create the character sometimes based on the clothing. It helps to inform who they are. So if that’s true, I imagine that someone taking some care in how they dress, not spending a lot of money but just putting some thought into what they wear would change the way they feel and how they feel about themselves.

Q: Fancy clothes are a good thing?

A: I don’t think you have to dress fancy in order to look good.

Q: What’s a great fashion tip you got that you like to share with others?

A: Well, like with men or women?

Q: Maybe both.

A: Well, I think that girls look really sexy in gloves. It’s a really simple thing that they could buy or get and it adds a nice element to an outfit. That’s kind of something really simple to do. For guys… what’s a good fashion tip for guys? I think clothes should be clean. Guys should just start there. Just be clean. That’s the first step.

Q: Do you have 10 suits or are you just a T-shirt guy?

A: I just grew up with my mother and my sister and I’m kind of a girl that way. I think like a girl in a lot of ways and fashion is one of them.

Q: Do you also have a beauty routine also?

A: No, I don’t have one of those but that’s pointless. You know what I mean? It’s like what are you going to do? But you know maybe I’ll have to start now that I’m getting older.

Q: Where you do stand on the soul mate issue?

A: I don’t know. I wish I knew. I don’t have the answer to that.

Q: No theories on if there’s only one out there?

A: On love? I don’t know anything about it. I just make movies about it.

Q: Are you romantic guy?

A: I like romantic movies.

Q: What do you like about them?

A: I don’t know. It’s like the way they make me feel when I watch them. {Laughing}

Q: In real life it’s probably pretty easy for you. You’re a handsome actor. Chicks come up to you, probably give their phone number to you even unsolicited, I assume?

A: Right but then they realize I’m not Ryan Reynolds and then they take it back.

Q: I read in an interview that you get confused with him. Is that true?

A: No one ever confuses. I’d like to be confused. I wish I was confused with him.

Q: Oh, you made it up?

A: Yeah. I never get confused.

Q: I love that. That’s even a better story. Why him?

A: He’s so big and handsome and he’s in great shape. He’s a nice guy, runs marathons, funny, you know? I’d love to be Ryan Reynolds.

Q: Wait, that sounds just like a description of you!

A: Me? From whom? My mother’s?

Q: All women! Since you moved to New York women are twittering where you are if they see you. Aren’t you aware?

A: Get out of here. {Laughing} I don’t even know where I am.

Q: Tell me about your first crush.

A: Well, my first crush was on a girl that lived on my street. I was just little like one and I guess I found a way to break her out of her house and I would try to take her for walks across the street at one. So my mother told all the kids in the neighborhood to sit on me if they ever saw me because I was going to get hit by a car.

(c) America Reads Spanish

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