Was Ryan Gosling Fired From “The Lovely Bones” For Flab And Arrogance?

By Jason

October 25, 2007 in Movies

On Monday I told you that Ryan Gosling had dropped out of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lovely Bones. He was quickly replaced by Mark Wahlberg and everyone went about their business. Right? Well, it seems there might be more to the story.

So why did Ryan Gosling drop out of the movie? Did he even drop out? A lot of people don’t seem to think so. The official word, of course, was that he left because of “creative differences,” but everyone knows that’s a blanket statement that covers pretty much anything and everything.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the not-exactly-slim-himself Jackson was surprised to see that Gosling had traded his marquee good looks to gain 20 lbs of weight or as the Times specifically says, looking like Gosling had arrived to the set wearing a “fat suit” and missing “movie star allure.”

Gosling had apparently told the director he was going to gain weight to age himself up to play the part of a grieving father, but Jackson was still expecting some movie star allure — not paunch and a beard.

The New York Post’s Page Six, however, said it went way beyond the weight problem. Apparently Gosling was fussy and difficult and simply rubbed the New Zealand director the wrong way.

“Peter couldn’t stand Ryan,” said one source. Though Variety reported that Gosling had “stepped down” and was replaced by Mark Wahlberg, our source said, “Ryan cut his own hair, and was fighting with wardrobe. He was so demanding . . . Peter booted him two days before filming started.”

Gosling wouldn’t be the first actor to gain fame and a healthy sense of self-worth on his way up the food ladder in Hollywood. Deadline Hollywood says not to believe the hype about the weight being a problem, though.

“Ryan and Peter both believed that if he put on a little weight, and perhaps added a beard, that it would age him up. In the end, Ryan felt he couldn’t make the age leap in a way he felt good about.”

They did, however, back up the claims circulating around Hollywood and many of the major gossip pages that Gosling has become difficult to work with.

Jackson “had a very hard time” with Gosling and was “irked” by his behavior. “Jackson didn’t want to work with him after spending time with him in Pittsburgh,” the insider says, “And the thought was that Ryan went overboard with the weight gain.”

If these rumors are true I find it to be a shame. I have been a fan of Gosling’s since really taking notice of him in Murder By Numbers. He’s done some great work and I think he’s a tremendous talent. There’s really no excuse for letting arrogance get in the way of your work ethic and Hollywood has a way of punishing those who get too big for their britches (remember when Val Kilmer was a real star?).

Of course, the official word is still “creative differences.” The word from his people is that he’s 26 and was trying to play a 36 year old. He thought the weight and a beard would help him pull that off, but it just wasn’t working.

I suppose Wahlberg will be a good replacement for him. He looks older than Gosling and I don’t think he likes to cut his own hair. His demands are no more difficult than leaving him alone when he’s doing his crunches, providing him a full length mirror, and making smoothies when the Funky Bunch drops by.

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