Nov 12, 1980

London, Ontario, Canada

Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor.

Gosling was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario to Mormon parents Thomas and Donna Gosling. He was raised in Cornwall, Ontario, and received his start in show business singing with his older sister, Mandi, at local talent shows. He credits his mother for turning him around from a troubled youth. She quit her job to home school him when Gosling got into too many fights at school. A former hyperactive Ritalin child, ... ... (read more...) he luckily found an outlet for his energy in the Mickey Mouse Club season six and seven. Gosling was selected from a pool of thousands to join the New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993 alongside the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake, with whom he lived while working on the series. He apparently caused an uproar among the mothers of young Mouseketeers when it was discovered that Britney and Christina had asked Gosling about sex and he enlightened them about various sexual positions.

Gosling became well known after his roles in the television series Young Hercules and Breaker High, and his fame spread to the United States after he'd starred in such films as The Slaughter Rule, Murder by Numbers, Remember the Titans, The United States of Leland, The Notebook, and The Believer (which was the 2001 Grand Jury Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival). His performance in the 2006 film "Half Nelson" has generated Best Actor buzz. Gosling has not had formal training as an actor but has been praised for his intense and heartfelt performances.

Gosling says of his Mormon upbringing, "My parents were more Mormon than I was." Gosling now considers himself "religious but nondemoninational". In 2004, he was named one of People magazine's Fifty Hottest Bachelors, and named the Show West Male Star of Tomorrow.