Steve Carell Found Ryan Gosling’s New Looks Creepy in ‘The Big Short’
Ryan Gosling and The Office alum Steve Carell collaborated for a second time in Adam McKay’s 2015 film The Big Short. To do the role justice, Gosling, along with other actors, had to downplay their looks. But Carell quipped he really wasn’t a fan of Gosling’s transformation.
Steve Carell told Ryan Gosling to never change his looks again
The Big Short was a biographical comedy about the 2008 financial crisis. It followed a group of key figures who were affected or took advantage of these events. An ensemble cast that included Carell, Gosling, Christian Bale and Brad Pitt would come together to tell the story. To portray their real-life characters for the film, McKay made it a point to downplay the movie stars’ usual good looks.
“Everyone thinks of Wall Street as these polished guys, but these guys were characters, weird-looking dudes with strange clothes,” McKay once told USA Today. “These actors are handsome as hell. But I told them that you cannot be movie stars in this movie.”
So when McKay proceeded to downgrade his stars, it drew a loud reaction from the audience.
“Everyone was like, ‘These are some of the best-looking guys in Hollywood,’” McKay remembered. “’What’s going on?’”
Carell had a similar response when he first saw his Big Short co-star Gosling. He was already familiar with the actor after previously working with him in 2011’s Crazy, Stupid, Love. Gosling looked considerably less glamorous in McKay’s feature, however, which caught Carell off guard.
“Ryan stepped out of the trailer for the first time with hair and makeup, and I told him, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’” Carell said. “He’s such a classically handsome guy. But he just looked creepy, like someone you don’t want to be near.”
Ryan Gosling would’ve done anything to work with Steve Carell
Gosling must’ve felt very fortunate to work alongside Carell twice. One of the reasons the Barbie actor did the comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love was because Carell was in the picture.
“I got this opportunity to work with him so I decided to jump at it,” Gosling said in a 2011 Collider interview. “I didn’t really think of it as a conscious choice to do a comedy … but I really wanted to work with Steve. I would have done anything to work with him.”
Gosling had been a fan of Carell’s ever since he first pursued acting. He had a chance to see his co-star’s comedic talents up close, and from there dreamed of one day working with him.
“I just love Steve Carell, always wanted to work with Steve,” Gosling said. “When I first moved to Los Angeles I did a pilot, was 17, had a small part, so did Steve. We didn’t get to work together but he was so funny I would go to set just to watch him work.”
According to Gosling, Carell’s talent for comedy actually caused issues on set.
“One time the boom guy just threw down his mic and had a laughing attack in the corner in the middle of a take,” he said. “It was the first time I worked with someone who was so good it was a problem.”
Steve Carell wants a reunion with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone
Carell not only got to know Gosling on the set of Crazy, Stupid, Love, but Emma Stone as well. Since the comedy feature, the actors had starred alongside each other in a few other projects. Gosling worked with Stone in the movies La La Land and Only God Forgives. Carell also collaborated with Stone on the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes.
Still, the trio hadn’t been paired together all at since Crazy. Carell hoped, however, that they’d reunite on screen again sometime in the future.
“I hope the three of us get to work again together,” he once told E News. “They are, incidentally, two of the nicest people ever.”
