Ryan Gosling says that being a child TV star made him fearless.
The Drive star, who got his big break as a Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club in 1993, credits his early acting days for giving him that confidence boost as he makes his directorial debut with dark drama Lost River, which he also wrote and produced.
“I did start very young, but I’m glad that I did because I didn’t have the fear of failure, you know,” he said.
“I tried it. I think if I’d waited until I was a little older, then I think I might have been a lot more self-conscious, or afraid of failing.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Mlkw9bJwc&feature=oembed
Former Doctor Who actor Matt Smith stars in Lost River, alongside Saoirse Ronan, Christina Hendricks and Ben Mendelsohn.
“I think he’s incredible. When I was working on a draft of the script, I heard his voice on TV and it was an episode of Doctor Who,” Ryan recalled.
“He was just doing this scene where he was screaming at all these aliens on a microphone and there were spaceships and just really in the universe. As an actor, I know that’s a hard scene because I’m pretty sure those spaceships weren’t there. He was just so engaging and so strong and there’s no one quite like him.
“He just reminded me of one of those actors from the 1970s that they’re only like themselves. So I thought, I really want to work with him and was really excited that he agreed to do the film.”
Eva Mendes (Jordan Strauss/AP)
Eva Mendes, Ryan’s girlfriend and the mother of his child, Esmeralda Amada, also appears in the film.
“She was around when I was writing it and she was very helpful in many aspects of the process,” the filmmaker said. “She interned with the costume department, and with the production design team and she was also acting in it so she wore a lot of hats on the film.”
Lost River is in UK cinemas now.
