Ryan Gosling on Working with George Clooney and His Worst Audition Ever

Ryan Gosling has had quite a year for himself.  He’s earned positive reviews in Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, and, most recently, The Ides of March.  It’s quite a run for the 31 year-old actor, especially since he was hand-picked by The Ides of March director/co-writer/star George Clooney for the lead role in that film. 

Gosling recently talked about his experience working both for and with Clooney and the stellar cast of The Ides of March as well as his worst audition story ever in the video below.

When asked if he knew whether or not the films he decides to star in will be any good, Gosling remarks that a lot of it depends on who he’s working with.  He explains, “For instance with this it’s George [Clooney].  You can look at George’s track record and kind of know what kind of movie he’s gonna make.”  When asked if he had any qualms about signing up for the film even though he didn’t have to audition, Gosling replies, “It’s one of those things… when George Clooney calls you, you say yes.”   Read more

Updated: 6 Clips and a Featurette from ‘Ides of March’ starring George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Updated: I just added 2 more clips and a featurette. I saw this movie last week and although I can’t say anything till Friday, I would listen to the buzz I talked about below.

Ides of March has been getting a ton of buzz where the lucky few who have seen it are raving.

Starring George Clooney (who also directed), Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei, the film follows the frantic last days before a heavily contested presidential primary. A campaign press secretary (Gosling) finds himself involved in a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate’s shot at the presidency.

I’m on a Gosling kick right now having just seen Drive and can’t wait to see this. The clips below look great.

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Marisa Tomei: “Comedy is just all I want to do”

Noting her love for comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love actress Marisa Tomei recently talked with Movie Line about what made her jump at the chance to improv with star Steve Carrell and where she’d like to go in future works.

“It did stick out on the page. It looked like you got to come in and just really play, and play hard and just get out,” said Tomei of reading for Kate, a middle school teacher who hits it off with Carrell’s character at a club before they realize that she’s his son’s educator. “We did a lot of improvising, and we also had a very generous schedule, so we were able to just keep going with it… Plus, the directors are really good laughers. It really gets you excited between the takes because they’ll just be like, ‘Oh my God, I couldn’t hold it in — I almost ruined the take!’ When you’re getting that kind of response, you just want to do more to keep making them laugh.” Read more

8 Clips from “Crazy, Stupid, Love” starring Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Julianne Moore

I saw Crazy, Stupid, Love the other night and I loved it! It’s definitely in my top 5 films of the year so far. It’s smart, funny and the cast is just perfect together.

Here are 8 clips from the film that opens this Friday. I put them in order as they appear in the film.

Go see this. I promise that you’ll love it!

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Trailer: “Salvation Boulevard” starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connoly, Marisa Tomei, Ed Harris

Salvation Boulevard: Pastor Dan Day, a charismatic evangelical preacher (Pierce Brosnan) has captivated a small western American town with his charm – and the promise of a sweet real estate development. Carl (Greg Kinnear) is a former follower – not of Christ, but of the Grateful Dead – who has since become “found” in Dan’s Evangelical community, serving as one of the preacher’s great examples of spiritual and moral transformation. But Carl’s new belief system is turned upside down when he witnesses a sinful act that Pastor Dan’s doughy henchman (Jim Gaffigan) aims to cover up. from trailers.apple.com

Director: George Ratliff
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connoly, Marisa Tomei, Ed Harris, Jim Gaffigan, Ciaran Hinds
Writers: George Ratliff, Douglas Stone

In theaters: July 15th, 2011

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Trailer: ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone

Crazy, Stupid, Love: At fortysomething, straight-laced Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is living the dream–good job, nice house, great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart. But when Cal learns that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has cheated on him and wants a divorce, his “perfect” life quickly unravels. Worse, in today’s single world, Cal, who hasn’t dated in decades, stands out as the epitome of un-smooth. Now spending his free evenings sulking alone at a local bar, the hapless Cal is taken on as wingman and protege to handsome, thirtysomething player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). In an effort to help Cal get over his wife and start living his life, Jacob opens Cal’s eyes to the many options before him: flirty women, manly drinks and a sense of style that can’t be found at Supercuts or The Gap. Cal and Emily aren’t the only ones looking for love in what might be all the wrong places: Cal’s 13-year-old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), is crazy about his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), who harbors a crush on Cal. And despite Cal’s makeover and his many new conquests, the one thing that can’t be made over is his heart, which seems to keep leading him back to where he began. from trailers.apple.com

Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Cast: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon, Jonah Bobo, Analeigh Tipton, Josh Groban, Liza Lapira, Joey King

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John C. Reilly talks about on-set improvisation

John C. Reilly, currently starring in Cyrus, talks about how he developed his character through on-set improvisation with Jonah Hill and Marisa Tomei.

He talks about improvising at the 2:30 mark.

John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill on ‘Cyrus’, Improvising and more!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:34 — 10.0MB)

John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill, two of the best comedic actors around right now, are currently starring in the new film, Cyrus.

Cyrus is a bit of a departure for both actors (although you can’t tell from the trailer). Reilly plays more of a grown up then he has recently and Hill plays it serious but it’s still an incredibly funny movie. The film, one of the highlights from SXSW, was mostly improvised and solidifies just how talented these two guys really are.

So do you think the era of the John C. Riley, leading man romantic comedy is finally here?

John:  Yes (laughter).  I don’t know.  Is there an era right now?  I hope so.  I’m a very romantic person.  I like doing parts like this.  And I think there’s lots of people out there that are not represented in movies that have romantic feelings whose stories don’t get told.

Exactly.

John:  You know what I’m talking about (laughter).  Neither of us look like Brad Pitt.  Let’s not fool ourselves.  I’m with you brother.

Yeah, I’m happy to see you do this genre and bring a reality to it that’s missing, an emotional reality.

John:  Yeah we try to be truthful in our emotions in this movie.

Did you think of yourself kind of as the straight man in this, if you’re gonna call it a romantic comedy?

John:  No, you know, the “straight man” is Marisa’s [Tomei] character because she doesn’t know what’s going on.  We’ve got this whole secret battle happening standing in front of her like it’s not going on. Because I’m a very foolish character in this movie, too, I make a lot of mistakes and bad choices and yeah.

But with a little more maturity though I think.  I like the maturity of your character.

John:  Yeah, that’s one thing I really did enjoy playing in this movie, you know I’m not a kid anymore.  I often play or have played man-child kind of characters before.  It was really great to be able to just sit in a scene and be as mature as I am in life.  And I think that’s some of the best moments of awkwardness between Jonah and I when he’s like, ‘Seriously dude don’t fuck my mom’ (laughter), and my comeback, you improvised that line, and my comeback was, ‘Well, I’m not going to lie to you.  Your mom and I did have sex.’  It’s just one of those moments where you’re being truthful.  Alright, if this is the situation, regardless of what the script says, this is how I would deal with it, if I was sitting across from a 21-year-old like, Mommy and I are –

Jonah:  Special friends (laughter).

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Marisa Tomei talks about 'The Wrestler' and taking off her clothes

Do you think the media, people who have interviewed you about this or about Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead have been inordinately interested in the nudity that you’ve been doing?

“Actually, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it’s all been treated really respectfully, and if anything, I’ve maybe noticed some of the women feeling kind of… empowered is too strong a word, but they feel connected somehow… It’s just surprising to me, and it’s a nice surprise. I mean, Mickey’s character is nude, practically, the whole time, too. [laughs] Maybe it’s just… that’s the very essence of this whole thing, is that it’s people who use their bodies for a living, and that’s the theme…”

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