The handsome Canadian Ryans finally face off.
Up top, The Notebook; below, Blade: Trinity, both 2004.
Welcome to Ryan vs. Ryan! The first arbitrary showdown that pits two people with the same first name AND country of origin against one another. This is personal, all. This is for ALL the marbles. This is for the respect of the entire Canadian nation! They’re both handsome and likable; they are both married to smart, foxy ladies; they both have a great sense of humor; they both look great in glasses and they both have new movies coming out in May. Gird your constitutions, friends, these Ryans both have sculpted abs and they both came to play.
Both Ryans started focusing on acting at the ripe young age of 13. Gosling, as the legend goes, went to an open casting call for The Mickey Mouse Club in Toronto – and was offered a two-year contract with the show that led to small roles in Disney or Disney-adjacent family-oriented TV throughout his teen years. At 19, he decided to get serious. He broke up with the Disney machine and took on a role as a young Jewish neo-Nazi in the 2001 indie, The Believer. Gosling’s performance blew people’s minds, the film won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, and this young man’s trail to superstardom officially started to blaze.
Reynolds spent his teenage years in Canadian-produced TV near his hometown of Vancouver; after graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles and did his time in one-off TV episodes of shows like The X-Files and The Outer Limits before scoring a lead role in Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, which ran for a respectable four seasons. Film was next – and after a small role in the 1999 watergate scandal comedy, Dick, Reynolds got his first big starring role in the 2002 comedy, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. Although critics hated it, the film made quite a lot of money – and the universal Reynolds appeal began to blossom.
The Canadian Ryans haven’t crossed paths much. Reynolds presented Gosling with a Teen Choice Award in 2005, and they both were both a part of celebrated films at the Critics Choice Awards just over ten years later, in 2016:
But enough with the bios and early years and bit parts… Enough of Gosling’s embarrassing childhood dance routines (that pose he strikes at the end never gets old!) and Reynolds’ amazing tight-rolled jeans in Canadian 90210. When it comes to winning – like, overall – which Ryan deserves our respect? Which Ryan deserves our allegiance? Which Ryan wins Canada? There’s no need to get out your calculator because I already brought mine… let’s RUMBLE!
Round 1: Popularity
In round 1, contenders face off in two dimensions: lifetime box office draw and appearance in popular blockbusters and/or franchises.
Reynolds
If there’s one thing we can be absolutely sure of, it’s that a Ryan Reynolds film will draw a crowd and rake in cash. In addition to his starring role in the groundbreaking R-rated superhero franchise, Deadpool (a two-film series with a third on the way this year), Reynolds has starred in 4 more blockbusters (Free Guy, Detective Pikachu, The Croods and The Proposal) and has had supporting roles or cameos in 3 more. That’s NINE box-office shaking films under his belt. Geesh!
So it makes sense that Reynolds is a real factor at the worldwide box office: his films have grossed more than $6.5 billion, which positions him as #202 on the ranked list of actors’ lifetime box office earnings.
| Blockbuster Score | 4.5 / 5 |
| Box Office Score | 3 / 5 |
Gosling
To quote Gosling’s starring role in his first film that earned more than $1 billion at the box office: “He’s just Ken, and he’s enough.” When it comes to box office receipts, Gosling is pretty much just Ken! Though La La Land was also a big success, Barbie is by far the biggest smash Gosling has ever done.
Gosling’s lifetime of films have earned $3.3 billion overall (Barbie was a real boost!); he is now ranked #640 for actors’ lifetime box office earnings.
| Blockbuster Score | 3 / 5 |
| Box Office Score | 2 / 5 |
And the most popular Ryan at the Hollywood party is…
REYNOLDS.
Round 2: Coolness
In this round, we’ll look beyond base audience opinion and rate how cool each contender is based on the number of critically acclaimed (Metascore >65), small-budget (<$20M) films they have starred/appeared in, and the relative coolness of their regular collaborators.
Reynolds
Interesting, small-budget films occupied a very specific period in the middle of Reynolds’ career. Starring roles in Buried (the OTHER one-man survival drama that came out in 2010) and A24’s gambling addict drama Mississippi Grind–as well as a supporting role in the charming 2009 film, Adventureland–bridged the gap between his early-career goofy teenage comedies and his destiny as a blockbuster juggernaut.
Reynolds’ most enduring collaboration is with Samuel L. Jackson, but it feels more accidental than intentional. They co-starred in two Hitman’s Bodyguard films and both did voice work on the animated film Turbo. Similarly, he and Catherine Keener have run into each other a few times–they co-starred in The Adam Project for Netflix and did voice work on the two animated films in The Croods series. And although they really have only made one film together, Deadpool 2 director David Leitch likes to invite Reynolds in for cameos–he has made surprise appearances in two other Leitch projects: Hobbs & Shaw and Bullet Train.
| Cool Films Score | 3 / 5 |
| Cool Collaborators Score | 2 / 5 |
Gosling
Starting with The Believer, for 10 years Baby Goose built his career on creative, high-quality, small-budget films, and he’s done all kinds of ’em: thrillers like Fracture and The Ideas of March; crime dramas like The Place Beyond the Pines, Half Nelson and Drive; the uncategorizable Lars and the Real Girl; and hard dramas like The Slaughter Rule and Blue Valentine. Nine films in all, all starring roles.
Although he has had repeat collaborations with directors like Damien Chazelle and Nicolas Winding Refn, Gosling hasn’t worked with any director more than twice. His enduring collaborations are with actresses. Although he and Marisa Tomei have had starring roles in three films together (The Big Short, Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March), his work opposite Emma Stone has made the biggest dent in our cultural consciousness (Gangster Squad, Crazy Stupid Love and La La Land).
| Cool Films Score | 5 / 5 |
| Cool Collaborators Score | 3 / 5 |
With an air of mystery and a heart of gold, the COOLEST is…
GOSLING.
Round 3: Importance
In round three, contenders will be scored on the films they’ve starred in that have A) won important awards for best picture, acting, directing, or writing, and B) made an impact on the film industry. This second rating measures how much money each film made relative to its budget, influencing the types of movies that get made, distributed and promoted.
Reynolds
His films may rake in cash, but they sure don’t bring home the statues. Reynolds hasn’t had a role in a single film that has won a high profile award for writing, acting, directing, or best of the year. Sorry boo!
But wait, remember about all that money? Turns out that matters. Casting Ryan Reynolds as the lead in your film is as close as you can get to a sure thing. On average, his films make nearly 3.5x in profit what they cost to make. Deadpool is the most impressive – its $783 million take is more than 12x its budget!
| Prestige Score | 0 / 5 |
| Moneymaker Score | 5 / 5 |
Gosling
Gosling has been nominated for three Oscars (Barbie, La La Land, and Half Nelson) – and won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for Half Nelson. He has also been a part of three other prestigious award-winning films: Drive, which won Nicolas Winding Refn Best Director honors at Cannes; The Believer, which took home the Sundance Grand Jury Prize; and The Big Short, which won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
But hold on – he’s not just a statue guy. Turns out Gosling is a box office silver bullet too. HIS films make back – on average – 4x what they cost to make, which is the HIGHEST industry impact we’ve seen yet across all showdown contenders. Most impressive of these is La La Land, which made back nearly 15x its budget in profit.
| Prestige Score | 5 / 5 |
| Moneymaker Score | 5 / 5 |
And asserting his Hollywood dominance with authority is….
Round 4: Artistic Merit
In this round, we’ll put aside whether the films they’ve made are cool or popular or important and examine whether they’re actually any good… and will consider each contender’s range. Sure, anyone can do drama or comedy – but can you do a great horror movie? A historical period piece? A musical?
Reynolds
The sassiest Ryan is most comfortable branching into Action movies; his best are Deadpool and Deadpool 2, though Safe House was also alright (and let’s not forget his Hobbs & Shaw cameo!). He’s been more and more into Fantasy/SciFi in recent years, though, with Detective Pikachu, Free Guy, and The Adam Project. In 2017, he had an ensemble role in the space horror film, Life – and a couple Christmases ago, he busted out Spirited, his first musical. I would bet real money it won’t be his last.
HOWEVER. Although Mississippi Grind has a respectable Metascore of 77, on the whole to say Reynolds filmography is not “good” is putting it a little too mildly. No, no. Reynolds’ films are consistently outright panned by reviewers – the wazziest among them being R.I.P.D. and Van Wilder, with truly embarrassing Metascores of 25 and 26 (out of 100!), respectively. Your man’s starring-role filmography includes a shocking 9 films with a Metascore below 40. Which is really bad. Overall, Reynolds’ average Metascore of 48.95 is the lowest of any showdown contender to date.
| Artistic Range Score | 3 / 5 |
| Critical Darling Score | 0 / 5 |
Gosling
The swooniest Ryan has followed a similar pattern in terms of genre exploration: he likes the action films (Drive and Murder by Numbers are standouts) and led Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi stunner, Blade Runner 2049 a few years back. He turned his charisma up especially high to play “hot guy at the bar/Jacob” in the charming 2011 RomCom, Crazy. Stupid. Love., and has brought the heat in two very different musicals: Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
In stark contrast to his Canadian name-brother, however, reviewers consistently gush over Gosling films. His best is La La Land, with a staggering, near-perfect Metascore of 94. Half Nelson, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, The Big Short, and Blue Valentine are all up there too, with very strong scores in the low-mid 80s. Although reviewers really hated Only God Forgives (37) and Gangster Squad (40), they are outliers in a generally strong filmography. Gosling’s average Metascore of 71.67 positions him as only the second showdown contender to date to break 70 (the crown still held by ethereal wonder, Tilda Swinton, with her average of 74.78). He even beat Cate Blanchett. Impressive, Gozzer!
| Artistic Range Score | 3 / 5 |
| Critical Darling Score | 5 / 5 |
And the superior artist is… GOSLING.
What can I say, I’m multi-faceted.
Round 5: Let’s Get Personal
And now…. the all-important big final round question: who is a better person? You shouldn’t win the showdown if you’re a creep. That just wouldn’t be right.
Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds grew up with 3 brothers in Vancouver–their Dad was a mounty (neat!) and their Mom worked retail. Although he got his start in Canadian TV early, he graduated from a normal high school, gave college a lil try, then chased the dream to L.A. where he worked his way gradually from sitcom guest star to box office juggernaut. He fell in love a lot along the way, making life-long commitments a few times: first to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette (engaged but not married), then to Scarlett Johansson (married 8 months), then to Blake Lively. They’ve been married 12 years, have a bunch of kids, live in New York, and are besties with Taylor Swift.
Reynolds frequently appears in the gossip columns, but mostly because reporters like to gush over his beautiful family and how nice he seems. Beyond that, the news on Reynolds is mostly about his business deals – notably his mobile company, Mint Mobile, and the Welsh football team he owns – both of which lean heavily on his likability as a marketing too. Looking a layer deeper, though, Reynolds is philanthropically active, prioritizing clean water, support for Indigenous communities, and environmental causes.
Here’s a Ryan Reynolds meme:
| Good Person Score | 3 / 5 |
Gosling
Ryan Gosling grew up a Mormon in London, Ontario, a medium-sized city about halfway between Detroit, MI and Buffalo, NY. His family were working-class: Mom was a secretary and Dad was in sales, and they divorced when he was young. Gosling was a weird kid – obsessed with movies from a young age. Apparently as a child he made a habit of talking like Marlon Brando, and got suspended from first grade for re-enacting First Blood at recess (there were knives involved). After the Mickey Mouse Club thing rocked his adolescence, Gosling dropped out of high school to pursue acting. He had relationships with two co-stars (Rachel McAdams and Sandra Bullock) before partnering with Eva Mendes – they have two kids and have been together 13 years.
Gosling’s philanthropy and activism focuses on animal protection, genocide prevention, and international peace promotion, particularly regarding child soldiers in central African countries. Even though the gossip columns are desperate to find something to write about Gosling and Mendes, they’re very private about their family, rarely even attending events or making official appearances in public together.
Here’s a Ryan Gosling meme (who could forget “Hey Girl…”?):
| Good Person Score | 3.5 / 5 |
And the most trustworthy Ryan is…..
GOSLING.
So who won?
Reynolds
| Popularity | 7.5 / 10 |
| Coolness | 5/ 10 |
| Importance | 5 / 10 |
| Artistic Merit | 3 / 10 |
| Good Person | 3 / 5 |
| TOTAL | 23.5 / 45 |
| AVERAGE | 2.6 / 5 |
Gosling
| Popularity | 5 / 10 |
| Coolness | 8 / 10 |
| Importance | 10 / 10 |
| Artistic Merit | 8 / 10 |
| Good Person | 3.5 / 5 |
| TOTAL | 34.5 / 45 |
| AVERAGE | 3.8 / 5 |
Ryan Gosling WINS!
We all have a crush on him, everyone just admit it. Congrats, Ryan.
Gosling’s next move, ironically, is to pull a Reynolds: he’s teaming up with Deadpool director David Leitch as the star of action-comedy The Fall Guy which comes out in May. Trailer here!
Though he didn’t win the showdown, Ryan Reynolds is going be to be just fine… he has 12 projects in various stages of production, including sequels to Red Notice and Detective Pikachu. Two of those are coming out this year: IF, a family-comedy heartwarmer that comes out in May (trailer here) and the highly anticipated new entry in the Deadpool franchise (and the first in the MCU), Deadpool & Wolverine, which will be storming theaters in July. Trailer here!
Midnight Movie Train 