Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor, musician and screenwriter from London, Ontario. As a youth, Gosling attended the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School as well as Lester B. Pearson High School, but dropped out of High School when he was 17 to focus on his acting career.
Gosling began his acting career at the age of twelve when he became a “mouseketeer” on Disney Chanel’s Mickey Mouse Club in the early 1990’s. Later, he worked on a number of independent films such as The Believer, Murder By Numbers, The Slaughter Rule and Leland. Gosling made his acting debut in 2004 when he starred in The Notebook with fellow Canadian actress Rachel McAdams. Since then, Gosling has starred in a number of hit films such as Crazy, Stupid, Love, Drive, Gangster Squad, and The Place Beyond the Pines.
In 2007, Gosling also became involved in the music scene when he and his friend Zach Shields formed the indie band Dead Man’s Bones.
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Engagement in Cultural Diplomacy
Humanitarian Causes
In 2005, Gosling traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi to volunteer as part of the clean up effort following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The same year, Gosling also travelled to Darfur Refugee Camps in Chad and in 2007, he visited Uganda as a part of his work with the Enough Project.
Gosling has supported various social causes, including working with PETA encouraging better treatment of farm animals. He is also a supporter of Invisible Children Inc, a group trying to raise social awareness of the recruitment of child soldiers in Central Africa.
Notable Actions
Gosling has also stood up for gender equality in the past stating: “You have to question a cinematic culture which preaches artistic expression, and yet would support a decision that is clearly a product of a patriarchy-dominant society, which tries to control how women are depicted on screen. The MPAA is okay supporting scenes that portray women in scenarios of sexual torture and violence for entertainment purposes, but they are trying to force us to look away from a scene that shows a woman in a sexual scenario which is both complicit and complex. It’s misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman’s sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than this film”.
