Russell Crowe doesn’t seem to have a lot of Hollywood friends these days, but there’s one big-name star who loves him to the moon and back: three-time Academy Award-nominated actor Ryan Gosling.

A source exclusively tells Closer the Barbie star, 43, has been doing damage control for the Gladiator actor, 60, and trying to woo his old pal for a top-secret movie project.

“Ryan’s worked with pretty much everybody in the last 20 years but when he’s talking about the people he actually respects and admires, Russell is at the top of that list,” reveals a longtime colleague. “He loves the guy!”

Russell and Ryan’s onscreen history dates back to the 2016 comedy film The Nice Guys, in which the two starred as private eye Holland March (Ryan) and enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell) who team up to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl.

“I loved making that movie. Ryan Gosling, Jesus Christ,” Russell recalled in an interview with GQ published last month. “Trying to work with that kid. … There’s a thing in acting called corpsing — laughing inappropriately. That little mother–ker gets me every time.”

However, a lot has changed since Russell dominated Hollywood, winning an Academy Award in 2000 for Best Actor for his performance in Gladiator — and Closer‘s source says that Ryan is ready to come to the rescue.

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“It’s frustrating for somebody like Ryan to see Russell in this weird space right now where nobody is disputing his talent, but his own choices and peculiar footprint in Hollywood have made him a fixture in B-movies nonetheless,” the source explains.

Given Ryan’s recent success playing Ken in the box-office sensation Barbie, the actor appears to have a lot of pull in Hollywood to help bring Russell back to A-list status.

When it comes to Russell and Ryan working together on another movie, the source says, “Absolutely,” adding, “Ryan has enough clout right now that he could certainly get a studio on board for a reunion as well. He wants this to happen and is trying to figure out a way.”

However, there may be one thing standing in the way. “Russell’s perpetually grumpy attitude is his own worst enemy,” the source says. “Ryan just wants to see his mentor and friend back on more solid footing, and Barbie is living proof that it only takes one big home run to completely change your career narrative!”

Shane Black, the writer and director of The Nice Guys, previously revealed that the film may have not even happened had Ryan and Russell not worked together.

“My friend Anthony Bagarozzi and I concocted the script in 2001 that was set in the present day and it went nowhere. We tried it again as a TV show for CBS in 2006 and that went nowhere as well,” he told IndieWire in 2016. “Finally, in 2014 we put it out one last time and Ryan Gosling looked at it and his agent said, ‘This is the sort of thing Ryan’s looking for.’ Within three days Russell Crowe said, ‘I like it, and if Ryan’s doing it, I’ll do it.’ After 13 years it just popped into place in three days.”