This time of Hollywood boasts some of the greatest actors who have ever lived. Emma Stone’s prolific career is something that many actors aspire toward for their entire lives, and she appears to only be getting stronger from here. The golden age of actors like Christian Bale and Matt Damon reigns supreme, and Scarlett Johansson has reached the level of star status that she could be referred to by only her first name and people would still know who was being talked about.

Ryan Gosling is a recent member of this recent pantheon of greatness. He spent years as one of the industry’s most underrated performers, but now, with another Academy Award nomination and his first Emmy nomination under his belt, it’s clear that he’s a true movie star – and that he’s here to stay. Thus, let’s take a look at the ten best movies and shows he’s appeared in up to this point in his career.

10Young Hercules Helped Introduce Gosling to the World

Rotten Tomatoes Score
43%

Where to Watch

Young Hercules, the prequel to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, is regarded by many as one of the sillier entries to Ryan Gosling’s filmography. It stars the actor as a younger version of the mythological hero while training with Cheiron the Centaur, who runs an academy for future warriors. He stands in opposition to Ares, the god of war, who wants nothing more than to destroy Hercules so that he can regain Zeus’s favor from his half-brother. Ares works alongside his nephew Strife and his sister Discord to achieve this goal, setting the stage for the primary conflict of the series.

Though Young Hercules was wildly successful with audiences, it wasn’t renewed for a second season. It was the second-highest-rated live-action children’s series for the season in which it aired, losing out only to Power Rangers. It didn’t make as much of a splash at awards ceremonies either, though it was nominated for Best Sound Mixing at the Daytime Emmys and Outstanding Children’s Script at the Writers Guild of America Awards (and won neither of those). Regardless, it helped bring Ryan Gosling onto the world stage and was a valuable part of his early career.

9Drive Proved His Action Prowess

A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor’s husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.

Rotten Tomatoes Score
93%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

Drive is one of Ryan Gosling’s most interesting films. He plays a stuntman who, on the side, works as a getaway driver. He gets to know his neighbor, Irene, and her young son Benicio, and his attachment to them leads him to get involved with Irene’s husband Standard, a criminal who has just been released from prison. Together, the Driver and Standard wind up privy to a million-dollar heist that goes wrong and leads to them putting every single person they know in mortal danger.

The film met with immense success upon its release, though some critics believed the stylized violence to be a bit too graphic for Drive to cater to wider audiences. It made numerous lists of the best films of 2011, including the ones from Empire and Rolling Stone, which just proves how much of a splash it has made on the cultural scene in the years since its release. It’s become a cult classic of the modern era, especially among older members of Gen-Z, and will likely continue to be a significant film as time moves forward.

8The Notebook Is a Classic Romance

Rotten Tomatoes Score
54%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

The Notebook is widely regarded as one of the most (if not the most) romantic movies ever made. The love story between Allie and Noah has become the dream that most young people aspire to find when they fall in love for the first time, and their journey to each other despite all odds brings even the most hardened watchers to tears time and time again. The Notebook‘s ending breaks the hearts of every audience member, even those who went into the movie knowing that it would make them cry. This is truly the mark of an excellent tear-jerker that moves audiences because of how emotional it is rather than making them weep for the sake of shock value alone.

A major part of that success can be chalked up to Ryan Gosling’s performance as Noah, which has been making audiences swoon for almost twenty years now. His refusal to give up on Allie even when the rest of the world seems to want them to stay as far away from each other as possible is seen as something to be admired, and the grand gestures he shows to her have left fans envious for years. Ryan Gosling is so effortlessly charismatic that he’s become nearly synonymous with the character, and the film wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without his incredible performance to anchor it.

7Blue Valentine Broke a Thousand Hearts

Rotten Tomatoes Score
86%

Where to Watch
Tubi

Blue Valentine is yet another entry to Ryan Gosling’s series of tragically-ending romantic movies – and it’s perhaps the most heartbreaking one he’s made. The tale of Dean and Cindy as it flashes backwards and forwards in time between their initial meetings and the failure of their marriage shatters every person who dares to watch it. Though the movie isn’t always easy to watch, as the nature of their struggling relationship is shockingly realistic in a way that makes it as visceral as something like Marriage Story or Before Midnight, it’s a worthwhile endeavor for anyone who believes they can stomach its cacophony of emotions.

Ryan Gosling’s performance as Dean is one of his best, and it earned him a nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (though he ultimately lost it to Colin Firth for his work in The King’s Speech). He plays expertly against Michelle Williams, and his role demonstrates the danger of stagnation in a marriage. He loves Cindy the same way he always has – and though it’s still a lot of love, he can’t tell that it’s no longer the kind of love she needs. Therefore, it breaks her heart and makes her feel as though she’s not being heard in her own marriage. He has proved a thousand times over that he can stir emotions in audiences, and it’s one of his strongest roles to date.

6The Fall Guy Thrilled Audiences

The Fall Guy

Colt Seavers is a stuntman who left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health. He’s drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie, which is being directed by his ex, goes missing.

Rotten Tomatoes Score
82%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

The Fall Guy, though it may have underperformed at the box office, was a smash hit with audiences and critics alike. Stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) gets tangled up in a conspiracy surrounding the lead actor of his ex-girlfriend Jody’s (Emily Blunt) debut feature, and he must figure out how to work alongside her to make sure everything works out. Loosely based on the television show of the same name, The Fall Guy is a comedic ride that thrilled everyone who went to see it and proved the value of stunt performers to a world that tends to undervalue them.

The chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt anchors the movie in reality, ensuring it never veers too close to the point of unbelievability. Their relationship is the highlight of the movie for many viewers, and it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful without the remarkable talents of Gosling and Blunt, both of whom are some of the best actors currently working. Overall, Fall Guy was a critical success and proved that there’s still a market for movies that simply provide something fun for audiences rather than trying to make a massive, sweeping statement about the nature of humanity as a whole. It’s a beacon of light in an increasingly dim industry and a movie that will certainly only gather more momentum as the years go on.

5The Nice Guys Proved Gosling’s Comedic Talent

The Nice Guys

In 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.

Rotten Tomatoes Score
91%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

The Nice Guys is one of Ryan Gosling’s most underrated films (though it’s bursting back into the public eye on the heels of some of his more recent comedic performances like Barbie and The Fall Guy). The buddy comedy tells the story of detective Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) who are forced to team up to solve the disappearance of Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley). Meanwhile, Holland must balance his career against being the father of precocious young Holly (Angourie Rice) who wants nothing more than to join her father on all of his missions. It’s a recipe for disaster – and often, in films like this, disaster and comedy go hand in hand. What follows is a fantastic comedy that gained an immense cult following in the years since The Nice Guys‘ release.

The movie works in large part because of the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe, whose unlikely partnership is the heart of the film. They play off each other effortlessly, leading every single joke to land with audiences who have become increasingly intolerant of comedic movies that don’t cater precisely to their sense of humor. The supporting cast shines, and each character feels just as fleshed out as the rest (something remarkably important when writing a film with as big of an ensemble as this). It’s one of Gosling’s most underrated movies and deserves to be checked out by a wider audience.

4Crazy, Stupid, Love Revitalized Rom-Coms

Rotten Tomatoes Score
79%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

Crazy, Stupid, Love is one of the most entertaining romantic comedies of the 2010s. The rom-com genre was waning, and this movie swooped in to revitalize something that has been a staple of the film industry for so long. It weaves numerous storylines together effortlessly. The most important one of these, however, is the tale of Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell), who just got separated from his wife and wants to get better at charming women so he can try to move on from his failed marriage. He crosses paths with Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), a womanizer who teaches him everything he knows.

Their relationship gets turned on its head when Jacob starts dating Hannah, a law student who previously turned him down but who realized later on that they had genuine chemistry. Their relationship blossoms beautifully, and Hannah wants to take him home to meet her family. Jacob realizes all too late that Cal, who knows everything about Jacob’s prior questionable behavior around women, is Hannah’s father. It’s one of the funniest scenes not only in recent times, but in the history of romantic comedies, and just goes to highlight how impeccable Gosling’s comedic timing is. Jacob is one of his best roles to date, and will likely continue to be one for years to come.

3Blade Runner 2049 Is a Beloved Take on a Familiar Franchise

Rotten Tomatoes Score
88%

Where to Watch
Rent/Buy

The road to a Blade Runner sequel was paved with problems. Licensing disputes made it impossible for something to be produced for a while, even though Ridley Scott workshopped a few ideas related to the property during this period. However, his desire to continue telling stories in this universe finally came true in 2017 with the release of Blade Runner 2049, which had direct connections to the original movie. Gosling appears as K, a Blade Runner who unearths a threat with the potential to destabilize human civilization as they knew it. He’s joined by an all-star cast that includes Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright, and Harrison Ford reprising his role as Rick Deckard.

Unlike its predecessor, Blade Runner 2049 was an immediate smash hit – with much of that praise directed toward Gosling himself, who proved to be a worthy successor to Harrison Ford as the franchise’s lead. The dynamics between the characters elevated the film to another level, with Gosling often being one of the actors named specifically by critics praising the movie. The cinematography is often regarded as some of renowned cinematographer Roger Deakins’ best work, and most critics saw it as a more than worthy heir to the original movie’s legacy.

2Barbie Shifted the Culture of Cinema

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

Rotten Tomatoes Score
88%

Where to Watch
Max

Barbie defined the summer of 2023 in every way. Fans flocked to the theater clad in bright pink so they could venture into Greta Gerwig’s newest masterpiece: the ambitious story of a Barbie (Margot Robbie) who has an existential crisis that drives her to visit the real world in search of answers about what’s happening to her. Barbie shattered box-office records to become not only the highest-grossing movie of 2023, but the highest-grossing film directed by a woman. At the Academy Awards, it earned eight nominations and took home the prize for Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

The standout performance among the incredible ensemble, however, was Ryan Gosling’s Ken. He took a figure from the Barbie world that most people who played with the dolls viewed as little more than an accessory and turned him into a scene-stealing antagonist (of sorts). His impeccable comedic timing was on full display throughout the movie, whether it featured him believing that the patriarchy was entirely about horses or performing a show-stopping dance number during a competition with the other Kens of Barbieland. For his work, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and got to do a showstopping performance of “I’m Just Ken” on the Academy stage.

1La La Land is Ryan Gosling’s Best Film

While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.

Rotten Tomatoes Score
91%

Where to Watch
Netflix

La La Land is one of the most well-received movies of the past decade. The star-crossed musical tale of two creatives who try to balance their relationship with each other with their differently-paced careers decimated audiences in every theater where the film played. It tied the record for the most Academy Awards nominations (fourteen, to be exact), and took home six of those – including Best Actress for Emma Stone (her first win) and Best Director for Damien Chazelle. Many regard it as one of the best musicals ever made, and, despite the tragic ending, an immensely romantic story.

With a cast as small as La La Land‘s – Gosling and Stone are essentially the only two characters, though there are a few named supporting characters – the movie must have immense amounts of talent behind it. This would not have been possible without Ryan Gosling’s breathtaking performance as Sebastian, the struggling jazz musician with whom Mia falls in love. He ensures that Sebastian is a sympathetic character even throughout his questionable decisions regarding his career and his treatment of Mia – something that a lesser actor likely would have struggled to balance. His passion for jazz always comes across as endearing rather than pretentious, and it’s truly just a joy to watch. Sebastian is Ryan Gosling’s best role in every sense of the word, and La La Land is the best movie the actor has appeared into date.