The tale of Ryan Gosling, a pile of ice cream cartons, and a film he never starred in is among the most iconic Hollywood tales. It served as a warning about ambition surpassing communication for nearly twenty years. The man who made the call finally chose to add his perspective this year.
In 2007, at the age of 26, Gosling was cast as Jack Salmon, the grieving father in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold‘s book. He had carefully read the book. He made the decision that the character, a suburban father gradually disintegrating, should appear heavier, more worn out, and more lived-in than his own slender frame permitted. So he started altering it.
Due in part to its peculiarity, the technique has become legendary. In his room, he kept pints of Häagen-Dazs, which he microwaved into liquid and drank whenever he felt thirsty. In this manner, calories decrease more quickly. He was chasing a 210-pound version of the man he had imagined, and by the time he got to the set, he had gained about 60 pounds.
None of that was what Jackson had imagined. It was a massive production with a thousand moving parts, so the two hadn’t spoken much during preproduction, and the change came as a surprise rather than a strategy. Before the cameras rolled, Gosling was fired. Reliably trim and a different kind of screen father, Mark Wahlberg took over.
To his credit, Gosling never attempted to make it seem more appealing. He once described the entire episode as “fat and unemployed,” a statement that becomes more hilarious the more you think about it. An actor who is willing to eat his way into a role and then laugh about losing it is almost endearing. Even if you wince at the outcome, it’s difficult not to respect the dedication.
Jackson‘s framing is novel. When asked about the recasting during his speech at the Cannes Film Festival in May after receiving an honorary award, he refrained from criticizing Gosling. He proposed that recasting is the filmmaker’s error rather than the actor’s; it’s a sign that the filmmakers envisioned something that wasn’t really happening on the day. He accepted accountability on his own.
He went on to describe casting as some directors discuss chemistry experiments and called Gosling an amazing actor. According to him, movies rely on the awkward alchemy of a performer blending into a narrative and a cast of characters, and occasionally that gel just doesn’t form. You put a lot of effort into your planning. You still make mistakes from time to time.
It’s a fair and generous reading. Both men seem to have come to terms with this long ago—Gosling through humor, Jackson now through claiming credit in public. The final film’s anchor, Saoirse Ronan, said it was depressing to see a coworker expelled.
Seeing this come up again makes me realize how minor the initial error was. It’s not the weight. The quiet. Two individuals who worked independently on the same concept but never quite agreed on what a character should be until it was impossible to bridge the gap. It was a good story because of the ice cream. It was a genuine conversation because of the missing one.
