Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is known for his roles in The Notebook and The Believer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and won Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male and a National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for his role in Half Nelson. He was nominated for another Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Lars and the Real Girl.

Early life

Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario, Canada, and raised in Cornwall, Ontario, the son of Donna, a secretary, and Thomas Gosling, a paper mill worker.
He was raised a Mormon.www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/2007/10/In-Love-With-A-Real-Doll.aspx His parents divorced when he was young, and dropped out of high school at age seventeen. He then moved to New Zealand, where he worked on the series "Young Hercules" for two years, with the company who created "Xena, Warrior Princess".Gosling of 'Half Nelson': An Un-Hollywood Star The Washington Post, August 25, 2006