Ryan Gosling will win an Oscar. OK, no one knows for certain, but in 2006, he was nominated as the dark horse candidate for Sundance favorite Half Nelson. If he continues on his path, weaving between indies and wide releases, he’s definitely on his way.
The Canadian-born actor is not exactly pretty-boy hot, although he was on People’s list of “Fifty Hottest Bachelors” in 2004. Nowadays, he sports a grizzly beard and mustache at premieres, in part for his role in Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Lovely Bones slated for 2008.
Gosling's chosen his roles wisely, opting for 3-dimensional, real characters: a lovelorn war veteran (The Notebook), a heroin addict (Half Nelson), an ambitious attorney (Fracture), and other parts that have proven he can act, whether he’s on the 'hot' list or not.
In this week's release, Lars and the Real Girl, Gosling plays a loveable, delusional introvert who falls in love with Bianca — a sex doll. As he acts opposite a plastic mannequin, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, arguing with her, and looking into her eyes as if gently searching her soul, we -- the audience -- become mesmerized by another convincing performance, and are drawn to believe that Bianca is indeed real. It's a brilliant performance - Gosling's able to produce sparks even when he's not paired with Rachel McAdams, Sandra Bullock, Rosamund Pike or any of his other talented female co-stars.
With Lars, and his resume so far, it’s only a matter of time before he’s on Oscar’s podium. And if he never gets that Academy Award, he’s already been awfully close.
