RYAN GOSlING talks about sinking his teeth into a morally ambiguous tale
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling is looking to push the frontiers of his ability to play conflicted characters with Officer K in Blade Runner 2049. “Brutal existence and alienation,” as he puts it, are the markers of our times and he hopes to tap into this desperation and project it on screen.
Gosling was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for Half Nelson (2006). The current film is the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic, directed by Ridley Scott and based on Philip K Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric SheepIJ
What attracted you to Blade Runner 2049 and how did this project come to youIJ
I had met with Whitney a few years before, I heard the screenplay and he told me he was working on it. So as a fan, I was just excited to hear that and he would give me little details here and there but he never told me that he was intending for me to be in it. So I guess I had some time to warm up. The idea was definitely intriguing. When I read the screenplay, I was just umm.. It’s a great story. A standalone film on its own but certainly as a fan it was a great extension of the original and helped answer some of the questions that I had and raised some new.
What attracted you to Blade Runner 2049 and how did this project come to youIJ
I had met with Whitney a few years before. I heard the screenplay and he told me he was working on it. So as a fan, I was just excited to hear that and he would give me little details here and there. He never told me that he was intending for me to be in it. So I guess I had some time to warm up. When I read the screenplay, I was just umm.. It’s a great story. A standalone film on its own but certainly as a fan it was a great extension of the original and helped answer some of the questions that I had and raised some new.
What would you say was your most enduring memory of the 1982 filmIJ
I think I saw it when I was 12. So it’s just very different from anything I’ve seen beforehand. It does feel like someone has given you a glimpse of the future. But at the same time it also really challenges your ideas of heroes and villains. And to answer your question of what it means to me, it was a lot for a 12-year-old.
Tell us about your character, Officer K. What would you say was the toughest thing about playing himIJ
Well, the toughest thing about playing him was to not be able to talk about him. There is a very interesting journey there but you know he’s a blade runner in the year 2049 and that’s different than being a blade runner in the original film. The world has changed and so has the job. There is so much brutal existence and alienation, and he is a real representation, reflection of that. But some of the more interesting moments are his trying to find some joy in all of that.
People are looking forward at this three decade time lapse in Blade Runner 2049. Do you think it will resonate just as much with the audiences as much as the 1982 film didIJ
We’ll have to wait and watch because there’s no other way to know. Also, I’m trying not to think about it in those terms. The storyline is wonderful and I hope people get engaged in the great cinematography by Roger Deakins, Denis’ direction and Harrisons’ performance. I hope people will appreciate it on the same level as they did the earlier film.
Hopefully the fans will get the answers they’ve been looking for and get to dive back into this cinematic universe that’s so rich, being mined from for a lot of years.
What was the best thing of being ing a part of this filmIJ
Deakins is a master story teller and as an actor to experience that and to be in a frame that’s telling you half the story for you is an amazing experience. Also, to work with a director like Denis who is so ambitious, fearless, humble and collaborative towards actors like Harrison was a very rich experience for me both on and off camera.
You have a lot of great scenes with Harrison Ford but there is that particular punching moment where you got hit really hard by him. Is that trueIJ Can you tell us a little bit about that sceneIJ
We had a fighting scene in a course of two days and it was to be shot in strobe light throughout the entire scene. So, we had to work very carefully with each other. He insisted that I lead into it and then I ended up getting punched by him.
Where do you find yourself on the debate of whether someone is a replicant or humanIJ
One of the things I love about this film is that it’s so morally ambiguous. Its ambiguity is so prevalent that you can still be having a debate of this nature so many years later and people still care.
It really doesn’t matter what I think. I mean if Ridley and Harrison, they’re the ones who matter and they have to make up their mind about it. Although we had this experience at Cinemacon Sorry Comicon where you get tested if you’re a replicant or not and I saw Harrison’s result.
You have done some amazing films. There was even talk about Drive and Only God Forgives, going back to you. How do you filter the movies you end up working onIJ
Well it’s a film maker’s medium. So it’s really about the filmmaker and his vision and whether I feel like I can understand it enough to help him achieve it.