Ryan Gosling at 46: The Actor Who Went to Space Twice Without Leaving Earth

Ryan Gosling turns 46 today, according to the Associated Press's weekly celebrity birthday list, and he celebrates after one of the biggest box-office springs of his career.

The Canadian actor started young, as a cast member of Disney's *The Mickey Mouse Club* in the 1990s, and grew into a leading man who moves easily between quiet dramas, musicals and comedy. Over two decades, he has made a habit of choosing roles that surprise audiences who think they have him figured out.

**Three Oscar nominations, three different Goslings.** The Academy has nominated him for best actor for the indie drama *Half Nelson* and for the musical *La La Land*, and for supporting actor as Ken in *Barbie*. A teacher struggling with addiction, a jazz pianist chasing a dream and a pink-clad doll with an identity crisis: it is hard to imagine three roles further apart.

**First trip to space: First Man.** In 2018, Gosling played Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle's *First Man*. NASA took part in the film's Washington premiere at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on Oct. 4, 2018, the agency said at the time, and its own photographers covered Gosling's red-carpet arrival.

**Second trip to space: Project Hail Mary.** This year, Gosling played an astronaut again, this time in the adaptation of Andy Weir's novel *Project Hail Mary*, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Drew Goddard, with Weir himself on board as a producer. NASA says it advised the production, including an on-set consultation between Gosling and astronaut Kjell Lindgren. In February, Gosling, co-star Sandra Hüller and the filmmakers visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a public panel on science and cinema, according to JPL.

**What he's doing now.** *Project Hail Mary* opened on March 20 and earned about $80 million in the U.S. in its first weekend, Deadline reported, with roughly $141 million worldwide. In a fitting twist, NASA noted that astronauts aboard the International Space Station screened the movie in orbit.

From a children's variety show to playing two very different astronauts, Gosling's career has a way of reaching places nobody predicted. Happy birthday, Ryan.

**Also celebrating today:** Anne Hathaway turns 44, Neil Young turns 81 and Megan Mullally turns 68, according to AP.

Photo Credits (images used with this story and its social posts; cleared with full credit) Each still: creator · license name · license link · source · edits. - Ryan Gosling at a Barbie Q&A, BFI Southbank, London, Dec. 8, 2023 — Creator: Raph_PH — License: CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GoslingBFI081223_(22_of_30)_(53388157347)_(cropped).jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival — Creator: gdcgraphics — License: CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RyanGosling07TIFF.jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling at the Cannes Film Festival, May 2011 — Creator: Raffi Asdourian — License: CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_-_Cannes_Film_Festival_-_01_(cropped).jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 for Blade Runner 2049 — Creator: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America — License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_2017_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling arrives at the First Man premiere, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Oct. 4, 2018 (NASA) — Creator: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani — License: Public domain (PD-USGov-NASA: NASA photo) (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-USGov-NASA) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_in_2018.jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling on the First Man red carpet, National Air and Space Museum, Oct. 4, 2018 (NASA) — Creator: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani — License: Public domain (PD-USGov-NASA: NASA photo) (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Template:PD-USGov-NASA) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22First_Man%22_Premiere_at_NASM_(NHQ201810040124).jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, Sept. 2018 — Creator: Mario A. P. — License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_at_SSIFF_2018_(2)_(cropped).jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video. - Ryan Gosling at a Lost River event in Paris, April 2015 — Creator: Elen Nivrae from Paris, France — License: CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryan_Gosling_(16437257783)_(cropped).jpg — Edits: none yet; may be cropped for social/video.

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