Hey Girl…

You know Ryan Gosling - the golden-maned, twinkly-eyed, studly Canadian actor who has starred in hits such as THE NOTEBOOK, CRAZY.STUPID.LOVE., and BLADE RUNNER 2049. Today, on his 40th birthday, we are celebrating our favorite leading man by breaking down his five best performances.

It is important to note that every answer on this list is the right answer, but that any alternative to this list is also the right answer. That is because—and I stand firmly behind this opinion—Gosling is one of our best character actors working today. Yes, he is known for his enchanting good looks, but it’s not his fault! He can’t help that he was born looking that way. His genuine acting chops become tragically muddled under his beautiful veneer, and so we hope that this list will inspire you to take a stroll down his impressive filmography.

5) LA LA LAND (2016)

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. There are some pairings that just create magic on-screen together, and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are no exception. Though their singing and dancing may not be top tier, it is their palpable chemistry that continues to draw audiences to their movies. In LA LA LAND, Gosling plays Seb, a job-to-job lounge musician who dreams of opening his own jazz club. He meets Stone’s Mia, an actress on the verge of giving up as she searches for her big break. The two meet, engage in a snapping musical number on the side of a mountain, and the rest is history. It is Gosling’s inimitable charm that makes him such a standout in this film—his character is somewhat lazy and unmotivated, but it is Gosling’s inherent likability that makes us root for him even before Mia twirls in and changes his life for good. His sensitive, soulful, and sweet demeanor keep the audience as putty in his hands and have them weeping by the end of the film’s nearly 8-minute epilogue.

4) BLUE VALENTINE (2010)

In director Derek Cianfrance’s BLUE VALENTINE, the film jumps back and forth between the best and worst moments of a crumbling marriage. Gosling plays Dean, the monotonous but loving husband against Michelle Williams’ Cindy, a tired and bored housewife. Much like with Stone, the chemistry between Gosling and Williams is the main propellor of the film. Cianfrance had the two actors live in an apartment together for a month prior to shooting to build up the love between them so that the ultimate downfall of their on-screen marriage would be that much more gut-wrenching. With the script of the film only having a bare-bones foundation and much of the dialogue being improvised on set, the ending result is a crushing, authentic look at a marriage that ends when only one person falls out of love. Gosling is able to flex his muscles in the film by playing two versions of Dean: one—his usual, charming, smirking self, and the other—a balding, overweight, desperate father, clinging to the last hopes of his marriage.

3) LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

Ryan Gosling in LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

Back before the days when Gosling was an A-lister making major blockbusters and studio films, he had a run during the late 2000s where he made a slew of excellent independent films, even being nominated for an Oscar in the independent drama, HALF NELSON (2006). Among those indies is LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, a dramedy about a man named Lars (Gosling), who lives alone in his sister’s garage until he gets a new girlfriend...a doll he bought off the internet. The slightly wonky premise could have been off-putting in the wrong hands, but Gosling brings a gentle and touching nature to Lars which causes the audience to sympathize with him. Lars’ relationship with his doll, Bianca, is not a sexual one. It is a genuinely loving relationship built from his deep loneliness. Gosling is equal parts awkward, shy, sensitive, and caring, and it remains one of the hidden gems of his career.

2) THE NICE GUYS (2016)

Gosling has had plenty of funny moments in his films, but none quite as raunchy or thrilling as his turn in THE NICE GUYS. He plays Holland March, a clumsy and dumb-in-a-cute-way private investigator in 1970s Los Angeles. He and Russell Crowe, the film’s co-lead, make for the ultimate unexpected dream team in a literal case of good cop/bad cop. Gosling not only gets to riff off a brilliant script from writer/director Shane Black, but gets to demonstrate his impeccable timing and physical comedy abilities with multiple prat falls and near-death shenanigans. Also worth highlighting: his hilariously high-pitched screams which will live on forever in this YouTube compilation.

1) DRIVE (2011)

To some, referring to this film as “god-tier” may be a bit of an overstatement. To others, that is not to sing its praises enough. DRIVE comes from filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, who later re-teamed with Gosling in ONLY GOD FORGIVES (2013), an equally compelling film that did not get nearly enough recognition. In this film, Gosling plays a nameless character, referred to in the credits only as “Driver.” He is a stuntman who drives cars for movies—but he also works as the getaway drivers for criminals needing a quick out. His sleek, under-the-radar L.A. lifestyle is interrupted when he meets Irene (his next-door neighbor who is played beautifully by Carey Mulligan), and begins to fantasize of a version of his life where he can settle down with her and his young son, Benicio. The film is very stylistic in its aesthetic, with trademark-Refn neon lights, an accompanying indie-pop soundtrack, and incredible sound design with rumbling mufflers and shotgun blasts. Gosling’s typical charm and swagger is merely a surface quality—his character is the strong-and-silent type; brooding, mysterious, but a truly good man underneath it all. With the film clocking in at just around 100 minutes, it moves quickly and as such, the script serves more to provide context for the story than to build the characters up. It is in this that Gosling really shines—no one, I will argue, commits more to face-acting than Gosling. Through a look in his eyes, a slowly-creeping smile, or a prolonged glance, he says a thousand words and builds tension and emotion without a single sentence to jump off. The iconic elevator scene is simultaneously the film’s most violent and romantic, and it is executed flawlessly by Gosling’s precision in his timing and movements as a performer. He doesn’t just entertain his audience; he captures them, holds them, and controls them—somehow willingly—almost like a puppeteer who never has to lift a finger.

For His 40th Birthday, We Celebrate Ryan Gosling's Five Best Performances