“You were raised by a religious zealot”: Ryan Gosling Credits This ’60s S*x Icon for Coming to Hollywood After Overcoming His Traumatic Childhood
Ryan Gosling, who just appeared in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, is renowned as one of the industry’s top stars, having appeared in films such as The Notebook, Blade Runner, The Believer, The Place Beyond the Pines, and many others. His endearing demeanor has wowed audiences for years and he has no plans to stop.
However, it may appear that the actor, who has a successful career, and a beautiful family with actress Eva Mendes and their children, has it all. It will come as a surprise to learn that the actor had a traumatic childhood while growing up in Canada, which he eventually overcame and molded him to be what he is today.
Ryan Gosling opens up about childhood trauma
During an interview recently, actor Ryan Gosling shared that when he turned 13 and was living in Canada with his parents; Thomas and Donna; they could no longer keep their tumultuous marriage working, and instead of going their separate ways, his parents just decided to make things worse for them.
Gosling revealed that he endured trauma while he was growing up, adding that their parents accused each other of mental and physical abuse and behaved in a way that was psychologically damaging to him and his sister. He said he “felt like I was going crazy as a kid. There’s something messed up with my brain.”
After a physical altercation between his parents in front of him and his sister, adding that even though his father physically assaulted his mother and was ordered by court to leave the house, Thomas accused Donna of attacking him in conjunction and both of them were charged with domestic violence.
It was also known that his father stated to the actor that he was obligated to repay him funds for helping him start his acting career, noting that he wanted to be reimbursed as soon as the actor had access to his trust fund. Over the period and dealing with trauma endured because of his parents, the relationship between Gosling and his father became strained.
The court documents mentioned that Thomas asking Gosling for the money was a turning point in their relationship as it went sour.
Ryan Gosling credits Raquel Welch for his entering Hollywood
The Notebook actor also revealed that he was raised in a Mormon household and was expected to follow the rules and teachings of the Bible. He said, “We were brought up pretty religious. My mother admits it. She says, ‘You were raised by a religious zealot.’ She’s different now, but at the time, it was a part of everything – what they ate, how they thought.”
The actor noted that movies that were not related to nature or the Bible were off limits for him, but after he watched Raquel Welch on The Muppet Show, he knew that he had to enter the entertainment world. But his being raised as a Mormon helped him land a career-changing role as a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer.
He said, “I didn’t grow up watching independent films. We didn’t have an art house theater. All I had was, like, my blockbuster knowledge. It’s those films that made me want to do this.”
How did Ryan Gosling land the role in Mickey Mouse Club?
The La La Land actor, who at the time was not diagnosed with ADHD, shared that he was bullied for his behavior in school and he struggled to befriend people, which is why he decided to take knives to school and throw them at his school mates, noting,
“I took knives to school and I started throwing them around the playground and I got suspended. I wasn’t taking [the knives] to school, I was Rambo taking them to war. I didn’t feel very smart. They kept passing me at school even though I didn’t know how to do things I should have known how to do. Like, I couldn’t read … I couldn’t absorb any of the information, so I caused trouble.”
After he was expelled, he was diagnosed with ADHD but with a reading disability and his mother decided to homeschool him, where he found out that he had a knack for entertaining people, which gave him self-confidence, and then he was selected for Mickey Mouse Club.
Gosling says, “All my characters are me. I’m not a good enough actor to become a character. I hear about actors who become the role and I think ‘I wonder what that feels like’. Because for me, they’re all me. I relate to these characters because aspects of their personality are like me. And I just turn up the parts of myself that are them and turn down the parts that aren’t.”
Now, with a family of his own, the actor makes sure to spend as much time as he can with them and is very happy with his life with Eva Mendes. He said that he considers him a dad first and then a Hollywood star.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
Source: The Things
