Since 2001, Ryan Gosling has slowly built his name as one of the most impressive young actors in cinema today.
With critically acclaimed movies such as Half Nelson, The Notebook and this year’s Blue Valentine under his belt, he veers into a different lane with the thriller Drive. Gosling stars as a stunt driver who doubles as a getaway driver, only to fall foul of various unruly characters after a job goes wrong. It’s a car chase movie harking back to the heist films of the 70s, but the star insists it’s not simply tearing up the streets.
“There's all kinds of different forms of driving. But more than anything, it's just being in the car. My favourite part of the movie is that sound you hear as the cars are going by," he said.
The training was an intense but enjoyable experience for the actor.
“I did stunt-driving classes, that was the best time ever,” he beamed. “I showed up at a church parking lot that's abandoned and there's a brand new Camara and a brand new Mustang sitting there. And you get in your car and you drive it until it won't drive any more – till it's smoking or it's on fire. Then you get out and a tow-truck takes it away. The driving part was just so much fun. So addictive. And such a bad habit to get into, because you can't do it (the stunts) anywhere.”
The film premiered at Cannes, and Ryan said: “They started cheering halfway through the movie, and after that, they started clapping to the beat of the music. They seemed so relieved that they were allowed to enjoy themselves.”
Drive is out on September 23.
