Ryan Gosling reveals heartwarming reason behind rejecting “dark” roles

Ryan Gosling has revealed the cute reason why fans should not expect him to take on darker roles for the foreseeable future.

Gosling has crushed the hopes of those longing to see him in a dark psychological thriller any time soon, as he would rather take on lighter roles to maintain a healthy mental state for his family.

While promoting his action comedy The Fall Guy, the actor told The Wall Street Journal, “I don’t really take roles that are going to put me in some kind of dark place. This moment is what I feel like trying to read the room at home and feel like what is going to be best for all of us. The decisions I make, I make them with Eva [Mendes] and we make them with our family in mind first.”

The actor went on to reflect on how his career shifted from thrillers and dramas to more fun films, and how that move impacted his personal life with Mendes and their two daughters in a positive way.

“I think La La Land was the first,” Gosling said. “It was just sort of like, ‘Oh, this will be fun for them, too, because even though they’re not coming to set, we’re practicing piano every day or we’re dancing or we’re singing.’ Their interest in Barbie and their disinterest in Ken was an inspiration. I thought, they were already making little movies about their Barbies on the iPad when it happened, so the fact that I was going off to work to make one too, we just felt like we were aligned.”

This isn’t the first time Gosling has been vocal about wanting to take on less serious roles, as he told GQ when he was cast in Barbie, “There’s something about this Ken that really, I think, relates to that version of myself. Just, like, the guy that was putting on Hammer pants and dancing at the mall and smelling like Drakkar Noir and Aqua Net-ing bangs. I owe that kid a lot. I feel like I was very quick to distance myself from him when I started making more serious films. But the reality is that, like, he’s the reason I have everything I have.”

Though the actor has not announced what he will be working on after The Fall Guy, audiences shouldn’t be surprised to see him embracing his comedy chops. But for those who loved Gosling in darker films like Drive, this news may be a bit of a disappointment.

Read our review of The Fall Guy, and you can also check out these other amazing movies, TV shows, true crime documentaries, and K-dramas to stream this month.