There are celebrities and there are actors. There are the heartthrobs, action heroes,thespians and performers. Even though many people are a combination of only two, they are almost always one more so than the other.
The rare exception to this principle, the atypical actor who manages to both consistently deliver awe-inspiring performances and seduce the infatuation of our popular culture, is the movie star.
These are the timeless actors that set themselves apart from their generation, forever enshrined in the zeitgeist of both American cinema and pop culture. And lately, I've been getting the feeling that Ryan Gosling may be the next inductee to that pantheon of movie stars.
Gosling, who began his acting career as a Mouseketeer on the ""All New Mickey Mouse Club"" with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, knows how to play both sides of the fence better than perhaps any other leading man of his generation.
His bedroom-eyed performance in the Nicholas Sparks-adapted schlock-fest ""The Notebook"" was both the saving grace of the film and a heartthrob performance on par with Leonardo DiCaprio's in ""Titanic.""
His powerful, dramatic turn as a drug-addicted, inner-city teacher in the indie flick ""Half Nelson"" made him one of the youngest ever nominees for a best actor Oscar at the age of 26. And the hits just keep on rolling from there.
In last year's ""Blue Valentine,"" one of my favorite films of the year, Gosling was still in top-form, delivering a performance so visceral, and real that I was shocked he was passed over for a best actor nomination, despite his co-star Michelle Williams receiving one. Luckily, Gosling can take comfort in the fact that he faced stiff competition in a year with quite a few best actor-worthy performances.
Never one to be put in a box, Gosling ventured out of the indie world this summer as a suave pickup artist alongside Steve Carell in ""Crazy, Stupid, Love.""
As I've learned to expect with Gosling, the flick turned out to be perhaps the best mainstream romantic comedy I've seen since ""Jerry Maguire."" While it might not have been groundbreaking, it was a cleverly plotted, well-acted film anchored by Gosling's chemistry with Carell.
Despite never starring in a movie that has made more than $100 million at the box office, Ryan Gosling has already charmed his way into our pop-culture hearts as well.
Perhaps my favorite pop-culture Gosling-remix is the image-blog ""Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling,"" which features pictures of the actor captioned with amusing dialogue, usually poking fun at Gosling's absurdly good looks, unrelenting cool, or the overall heartthrob persona that ""The Notebook"" thrust upon him.
The fact that the website is completely reverent of the actor and never malicious only further speaks to the infatuation Ryan Gosling commands. Gosling, not afraid to laugh at himself, even read some of the blog's captions aloud on MTV.
This fall holds two more promising releases from Gosling. First up is ""Drive,"" out this Friday, which has been garnering rave reviews (It currently sits at an astounding 95 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Gosling stars as a stunt car driver in Los Angeles who works by night as a criminal getaway driver.
Next month, Gosling is back again with ""The Ides of March,"" a political thriller based on the 2004 play ""Farragut North,"" directed by and co-staring that silver fox George Clooney.
Gosling has been singled out and lauded for his performances in both films and, while it is still a bit early to tell, this may finally be his year to take home a golden boy. After all, that's about the only obstacle left on his way to becoming the Hollywood golden boy.
Are you also doe-eyed over Ryan Gosling? Do you hate him? E-mail David at dcottrell@wisc.edu.
