
It may seem hard to imagine now, butRyan Goslingsays he earned a few of his early breakout roles because directors thought he didn’t fit a typical mold for a leading man on the big screen.
While speaking withGQfor a cover story published Wednesday, Gosling, 42, recalled thatThe Notebookdirector Nick Cassavetes “straight up told me: ‘The fact that you have no natural leading man qualities is why I want you to be my leading man,' " when he was cast as Noah oppositeRachel McAdamsfor the 2004 romance film.
As Gosling explained to the outlet,The Notebookwas not the first time he had been cast in a role because a director believed the actor was not a natural fit for the character. He also identified 2001’sThe Believer— in which he starred as a Jewish man who becomes a Neo-Nazi — as a role he was cast in for similar reasons.
“The fact that I wasn’t really right for it was exactly [director Henry Bean] he thought I was right for it,” the actor said.
Gosling, who next stars in the highly anticipatedBarbiemovie as Ken, made his breakthrough in the early 2000s with movies likeThe BelieverandThe Notebook. In the latter film, Gosling costarred as a younger version of man named Noah, who falls in love with Allie (McAdams) in the 1940s. The film tracks their relationship’s progression through the decades.

Gosling and McAdams, 44, dated for some time well after the completion ofThe Notebook, though the film’s director Cassavetes hassaid the two had some trouble “getting along"at times during filming.
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Elsewhere in Gosling’sGQprofile published Wednesday, the actor spoke extensively abouthis role as Kenin the upcomingBarbiemovie, which costarsMargot Robbieas the titular Barbie and seems to follow iconic Mattel dolls as they travel from Barbie Land to the real world.

“It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken,” he continued. “Like you ever thought about Ken before this?”
Barbieis in theaters July 21.
source: people.com