Ryan Gosling recently shared that he’s actively avoiding “dark roles” for the foreseeable future — for the good of his family.
While Ryan’s infamous role in the Barbie movie was certainly a more carefree one, his acting gigs aren’t always so lighthearted. For example, in 2012, he played a motorcycle stuntman turned criminal in the drama, The Place Beyond the Pines.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ryan opened up about how he now has his family to consider when choosing acting roles.
“The decisions I make, I make them with Eva, and we make them with our family in mind first,” he said, mentioning that he doesn’t want to partake in roles that might negatively affect his mood at the end of a day.
Ryan Gosling Is Avoiding ‘Dark Roles’ for the Sake of His Family
Ryan has two daughters, ages 8 and 9. He explained how his previous roles have impacted them personally. For example, when he starred in La La Land, it was a fun experience for his entire family.
“It was sort of like, ‘oh, this will be fun for [my kids] too,’ because even though they’re not coming to set, we’re practicing piano every day or we’re dancing or we’re singing,” he said.
More recently, Ryan accepted a role in the 2024 action film, The Fall Guy. In the movie, which came out today, he played a stuntman which essentially required him to be set on fire. However, his girls did not like the idea of this.
“Even though I said, ‘Well, it’s actually, technically the safer thing to do because there’s a lot of protective stuff involved, [they] were like, ‘No. No fire.’ So I didn’t do it,” he said.
As a result, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing Ryan in any “dark” roles — at least any time soon. Perhaps when his daughters are older, he’ll change his mind. But for now, he’s happy sticking with lighter, sillier roles.