Gosling made his first starring film role as the Jewish neo-nazi in The Believer, filmed in 2001, before going on to become a global name starring in various major films such as Drive, The Place Beyond the Pines and more recently La La Land.
The two films of Gosling which have inspired me in the making of our film opening are Drive and Only God Forgives, both directed by his good friend director Nicholas Winding Refn. In both of these films, Gosling plays a similar role of the stoic and detached lead, who despite seeming level-headed and cool has a tendency for violence when provoked. His character is essentially a more modern version of the archetypal traditional noir lead, which is fitting since these two films would be considered neo-noir. Both films are drenched in neon throughout, with a gloomy and gritty urban setting and a theme of low-life crime and decadence (Only God Forgives Especially). Gosling is an inspirational actor for me as he managed to not only break boundaries for the traditional noir lead character, but he managed to create new criteria for the character of new neo-noir leads, making aloof coolness and masculinity popular again.
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