When talking to The Hollywood Reporter during their roundtable awards season discussion with acting heavyweight contenders for gongs, Ryan Gosling went into depth about his departure from The Lovely Bones for the first time.
Gosling basically said that he and Jackson had completely different ideas about the character. "We had a different idea of how the character should look," Gosling told The Hollywood Reporter. "I really believed he should be 210 pounds." When Jackson hired him, he was 150 pounds, but Gosling felt he needed to be a bit heftier, so started melting ice cream and drinking it when he was thirsty - putting on 60 pounds in the process. Gosling added "We didn't talk very much during the preproduction process, which was the problem.... Then I was fat and unemployed." Fran Walsh, Jackson's wife and producing partner told a different story of events, saying Gosling repeatedly approached them voicing his concerns that he was too young for the part.
Anyhow, the past is the past, but in retrospect Gosling was right. Mark Wahlberg was completely wrong for that character, and was too action-star looking for such a vulnerable role. Granted, he didn't exactly have time to put on weight, but Gosling's point stands. Gosling will next be seen in Oscar hopeful, Blue Valentine opposite Michelle Williams.
