Where do we know Ryan Gosling from?

Celebrities are celebrities because we know who they are, but how we know who they are varies from person to person. For some, for example, Leonardo DiCaprio will always be Jack from Titanic, but younger moviegoers might know him better as that dude from Inception with the top.

Where do we know That Dude from? is a new Popverse column that will be appearing weekly, as Team Popverse shares where they know the particular That Guy in each installment from.

Our first topic this week: Ryan Gosling

Chris Arrant - Drive

I knew of Ryan Gosling before Drive, but I didn’t know him until the 2011 film. This modern day western replaces horses with cars and guns for charm (or lackthereof), and Gosling cut an overstated but oversized performance that made this the quintessential Gosling work for me in the years since (even following Barbie).

Tiffany Babb - The Nice Guys

Sure, I'd seen Ryan Gosling in things before. I even really loved Drive. But Ryan Gosling never really existed for me until his iconic and hilarious turn as Holland March alongside Russell Crowe in Shane Black's brilliant The Nice Guys.

Graeme McMillan - La La Land

What does it say about me that I thought Ryan Gosling was two entirely different people in Lars and the Real Girl (2007) and Crazy, Stupid Love (2011)? I don't think I actually realized who he was until La La Land in 2016, but I'll go along with Tiffany: The Nice Guys (also from 2016!) is where I became a fan.

Ashley V. Robinson - The Notebook

I know Ryan Gosling from The Notebook. I want to be very clear that I do enjoy the Notebook and watching it as a young person I was perplexed as to why everyone I knew seemed to be in love with him. My favourite Gosling performance is in The Nice Guys, but I’m sad to admit that I’ve even seen The Notebook.

Veronica Valencia - The Notebook

Ryan Gosling first became a familiar face to me with his work in The Notebook. I was HUGE into romcoms (still am) and Nicholas Sparks movies. I'd watched the movie so much I could quote it, and it was after that movie I really recognized the actor by his name and not just, "oh that's Noah from The Notebook."

Trent Cannon - Barbie

Real talk: Ryan Gosling wasn't on my radar until 2023. Sure, I had seen him in The Notebook and Blade Runner 2049, but he never stood out in my memory until I saw him in Barbie. Call me basic but, to me, he's just Ken.

Grant DeArmitt - The Close Encounter sketch, Saturday Night Live

I love The Notebook, love Drive, but when someone mentions Ryan Gosling, I remember Close Encounter, a sketch from Ryan's 2015 SNL episode. I'll always think of him as the guy who A.) tried to stay serious during Kate McKinnon's alien abduction story and B.) failed.

And that's all for this week. Where do you know Ryan Gosling from? Let us know in the comments below.

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