Hollywood has many great actors named Ryan, and among them, Ryan Gosling is definitely a precious gem. With his charming look, the Canadian actor has always known the perfect recipe to steal the fans' hearts. Over the years, the 41-year-old heartthrob has appeared in various hit films and shows, making him one of the most coveted actors in the entertainment industry. But, have you wondered what led to his meteoric catapult to superstardom? Here's the answer as we look at his incredible career journey.

Ryan Thomas Gosling, born on November 12, 1980, is a well-known actor across the world. He was born in London, Ontario, but spent the majority of his youth in Cornwall. When he was a youngster, his parents split, and he moved in with his mother and sister. His childhood with them prepared him well for a career in acting since he can easily comprehend and understand women. He has had a strong desire to perform and sing since he was a toddler.

Unfortunately, Ryan Gosling had a lot of difficulty at school since he had learning impairments. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Given this, the young guy chose to pursue a career in acting. Despite his mother's insistence on enrolling him in a special needs school. But that didn't work either, so his mother quit her job and chose to homeschool him for a year. Finally, at the age of 17, Gosling dedicated himself entirely to his acting profession.

Ryan Gosling began his acting career when he was 12 years old. He went to an open casting call for The All-New Mickey Mouse Club in Montreal. He was hired as a Mouseketeer for two years and relocated to Orlando, Florida. He was only shown on film occasionally since other youngsters were seen to be more skilled. From 1993 to 1994, he performed with fellow Mouseketeers Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake.

Gosling wanted to pursue serious films when he was 19 years old. The leap from children's television to shattering the stigma was first challenging. His agency dismissed him at first, but Gosling soon made his feature film debut with a tiny role in Denzel Washington's sports thriller Remember the Titans (2000). Since that time, he has impressed people with his amazing acting skill and natural facial impressions.

Gosling has devoted himself to several causes, including the refugee crisis in Darfur, Sudan. He wore a ‘Darfur’ T-shirt at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards to raise awareness and was the Hollywood representative at the 2008 Campus Progress National Conference. He travelled to Uganda and Congo to advocate against genocide, violence and crimes against humanity with the Enough Project. He has also worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to advocate for the humane treatment of factory poultry and livestock.

With his startling portrayal as a Jewish, neo-Nazi thug in The Believer in 2001, Gosling established himself as a serious actor and a hot new talent. The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001. Due to its contentious subject matter, it received restricted theatrical distribution. However, Gosling's performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead as well as widespread critical acclaim.

With his performance in The Notebook opposite fellow Canadian Rachel McAdams, Gosling broke through as a Hollywood leading man in 2004. The romantic melodrama, based on Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name, received Gosling more positive reviews. After a moderate box-office success, it went on to become extremely popular. The Notebook made Gosling a household name and brought him many adoring fans.

By playing dark characters in more demanding films, the 42-year-old actor avoids being stereotyped as a heartthrob. In 2005, he starred in the psychological thriller Stay, and the following year in the indie drama Half Nelson, in which he played a committed but drug-addicted inner-city schoolteacher. As part of his study, Gosling shadowed a Brooklyn instructor and learned the Civil Rights teachings that his character delivers in the film. Half Nelson earned Gosling his first Academy Award nomination. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and an Independent Spirit Award.

In the sleek criminal drama Fracture, Gosling plays a sharp, hotshot district attorney who pits his wits against a powerful adversary played by Anthony Hopkins in 2007. Lars and the Real Girl, a sweet-natured dark comedy about an uncomfortable misfit who finds love with a life-sized plastic sex doll, was also a surprise success the same year. Following numerous grim dramas, the film displayed Gosling's flexibility. It got him nominations for the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild.

Despite his celebrity and success, Gosling has acknowledged dissatisfaction with the rigors of big-budget filmmaking, as well as his disenchantment with the Hollywood system. He began refusing large project offers and took a break from acting to focus on his band, Dead Man's Bones, in which he sings and plays piano, guitar, and bass guitar. It was met with largely positive reviews, and played a 13-city North American tour in 2009, performing with a different children’s choir in each city.

Despite his extended absence from the big screen, Gosling’s star power continued to grow within pop culture. His quiet, smoldering charisma inspired a popular meme featuring his likeness captioned with the words ‘Hey girl’ followed by various irreverent statements. The meme, which was started by a fan in 2008 on the micro-blogging site Tumblr, became a viral hit. It eventually generated merchandise, a video response featuring Gosling and Russell Crowe, and spinoff memes such as Feminist Ryan Gosling and Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal.

After a brief stint with music, Gosling returned to acting with Blue Valentine in 2010, a raw, heartbreaking indie drama. His uncompromising performance opposite Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams brought another Golden Globe nomination. The film went on to become a critical darling and a cult hit. Less successful was All Good Things in 2010, a crime drama based on an unsolved mystery surrounding the infamous Robert Durst's The Jinx, which co-starred Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella.

In 2011, Gosling had three major films in release, all of which became critical and box office hits: the violent, arthouse action-thriller Drive, the comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, and the political drama The Ides of March. They all capitalized on and fed his charismatic screen persona while demonstrating his facility for both comedy and drama. The latter two films also made him a double nominee at the Golden Globes.

2013 was very productive for the actor as Gosling reunited with Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance for the drama The Place Beyond the Pines (2013), co-starring Eva Mendes and Bradley Cooper. He cooperated again with Emma Stone in the period action drama Gangster Squad (2013), with Sean Penn and Josh Brolin. He also worked with Drive director Winding Refn on the widely panned Only God Forgives. These three films struggled to meet the expectations set by Gosling’s previous work but solidified his screen persona as a sensitive bad boy.

Gosling made his directorial debut with Lost River (2015), a dark fable that he also wrote. It was inspired by the abandonment of Detroit and by Gosling’s mother’s experiences of raising him after his parent's divorce. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and was met with generally negative reviews. Some appreciated Gosling’s 'poetic sensibility' and his ability to draw strong performances from his actors, including Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan, and Eva Mendes.

Gosling rebounded with a scene-stealing performance as a charismatic sleazeball in the Oscar-nominated dramedy The Big Short in 2015, about the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. Gosling earned multiple nominations, including a SAG nomination as part of the ensemble. He followed with the crime comedy The Nice Guys a year later and drew positive reviews for his easygoing chemistry with co-star Russell Crowe.

Gosling had his biggest hit to date in 2016 when he reunited with Emma Stone for the Los Angeles-set musical La La Land. To prepare for his role as a struggling jazz pianist, Gosling practiced piano three hours a day for three months while also training in dance and singing.

La La Land was a hit with critics and audiences. It won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, received a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, and won a record-setting seven Golden Globes, including one for Gosling’s performance. La La Land also won five BAFTAs and earned Gosling his second Oscar nomination, first BAFTA nomination, and fourth SAG nomination.

He has had romantic relationships with his Murder by Numbers co-star Sandra Bullock, whom he dated from 2002 to 2003, and, perhaps most famously, with his Notebook co-star Rachel McAdams. The two dated from 2005 to 2007, and briefly in 2008. Gosling was linked romantically to other actors, including Blake Lively and Olivia Wilde, before he began dating his Place Beyond the Pines co-star Eva Mendes in September 2011. The couple has two daughters, born in September 2014 and April 2016.