Bone of contention

I don’t want to be a hater, but I simply cannot get behind this.

One day before shooting began Ryan Gosling has dropped out of filming The Lovely Bones, citing “creative differences”. Which is as much of a cop out as claiming “irreconcilable differences” when you file for divorce. While rumors swirl that he was asked to leave because he was “too young” I have to wonder; Why isn’t this something that came up during the months of pre-production during which Gosling grew a robust beard and gained 20 lbs.

This morning I woke up to headlines of: Wahlberg replaces Gosling

Now, I no longer think of Mark Wahlberg as the mandatorily shirtless hip-hopper Marky Mark, in fact, I haven’t viewed him that was since the combo of Boogie Nights and Fear back in the 90's. He’s even become quite a good actor who has a slightly undeserved Oscar nomination to his name. That being said, Mark Wahlberg is no Ryan Gosling.

As an actor, Gosling is just working with a different set of instruments. It would be like asking a gynecologist to give you a prostate exam—-close, but no cigar. And the opposite applies too; I wouldn’t want to see Gosling in a Wahlberg vehicle: trying to clear his name in Shooter or rocking seriously tight pants as the long haired lead singer in Rock Star.

Additionally, let’s go back to the 20 lbs and bushy beard—are they just scrapping those tiny bits of character development? If so, that just proves my point. Those personal touches are the kind of thing an actor of Gosling’s caliber brings to a project. Yes, they can apply a faux-beard and put Mark in a fat suit (which I bet they won’t) but the point is, Ryan was getting into the head of the character while Mark is simply stepping into his shoes.