I Thought I Was Ryan Gosling

I’m gonna be honest,

When I got out of college and ready to make my grand introduction to the industry, I thought I was Ryan Gosling.

Well, not literally. But I thought I was the next Ryan Gosling.

I started as young child actor just like he did. I dreamed of playing bad guys like his role in Murder By Numbers and sensitive loners like Half-Nelson.

But more than anything I wanted to play a modern day Romeo like Noah in The Notebook.

I dreamed of hanging from a ferris wheel by one arm to prove my love.

I longed to tell a girl -  If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.

I felt destined to grow a bushy beard and kiss Rachel McAdams in the rain.

I was sensitive. I had a slight frame. I could be dramatic and intense or silly and charming.

And the Bay Area is basically the Canada of America, amirite?

There’s just one problem: I wasn’t Ryan Gosling.

Turns out, there’s only one.

No matter how many Newsie hats and fake New York accents I tried, I couldn’t fix that one major problem.

I was me.

And the world thought I was way more Ron Howard than Ryan Gosling.

Or maybe Macaulay Culkin.

I didn’t want to accept that.

It meant that I was boyish and friendly instead of the brooding, sexy guy I so badly wanted to be in my real life.

It was personal. Not business.

And it royally messed up my acting career.

Here’s how it happened:

My dream of being the next Ryan Gosling affected every decision I made for my career.

I took headshots with photographers who specialized in edgy, sexy guys. I picked wardrobe to match - lots of leather jackets and trendy clothes.

In acting class I worked on scenes from Half-Nelson and Blue Valentine. I took it personally when they suggested anything different.

I built my reel these parts. I brought that material into CD Workshops.

And then the final nail in the coffin:

I presented that to agents and managers… who kinda bought it.

They start pitching me to Casting as this Ryan Gosling 2.0, using the materials I developed for them.

So Casting brings me in for romantic leads and edgy loners… And I don’t book them.

I’m not seriously competitive for these jobs.

And none of them stop me and say “Oh you’re for the wrong part, let’s give you, a stranger, the benefit of the doubt and bring you in for something else.”

They just move on, because I’m not delivering on the expectation I helped create.

I’m not helping them solve their casting problem. I’m just taking the spot away from someone who could.

Talented actors can pull off all sorts of things for a picture, a scene, or a class. But it’s dangerous, because that’s not the same as truly being competitive for the job.

And when we aren’t competitive, we’re not building relationships with casting.

Our agents get frustrated because we can’t deliver on what we promised. We stop being fun to sell.

And we feel bad about ourselves as actors, so we don’t wanna go to class or invest in our careers, leading us to question our whole life path.

This is why we have to be really clear on what we do well.

What ‘types’ and roles we can legitimately book in the most competitive market in the world.

Then we need headshots and footage to match. These are proof of concept that set the expectation for reps and casting.

So when they bring us in, we match their expectation and can solve the problem they brought us in for.

Then, and only then, will our talent, training, and beautiful authenticity shine in alignment.

Industry professionals will stop saying, “I don’t know what to do with you” or “I just don’t know where you fit.”

They may bring you in for fewer roles as you articulate what you specialize in… But you’ll actually be competitive for every last one of them.

You’ll make fans, build a career, and realize that you were “Kenough” the whole time.