While Ryan Gosling may be one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men, the actor got his career started by bucking that label. According to the Barbie star, he was told early on by a few directors that he didn’t have leading man qualities – but they meant it as a good thing, apparently.
In a profile with GQ Magazine, the actor shared that he was cast in one of his first major roles in 2001’s The Believer because he was nothing like the character. Gosling played a Jewish kid from New York who becomes a neo-Nazi in the movie. "The fact that I wasn’t really right for it was exactly why [director Henry Bean] thought I was right for it," he said.
