On one side we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Regular Joe, as he calls himself of his Twitter and Tumblr pages, a man that has grown-up before our eyes since 3rd Rock from the Sun and now has the blockbuster of the summer, The Dark Knight Rises. The second man in this debate is (Hey Girl!) Ryan Gosling. Yes, Gosling grew up to some of us (Young Hercules anyone?) but he really didn’t get noticed until The Notebook when every single one of my friends starting crying in the theater and subsequently confessed their UNDYING love for this man. As a girl that can’t tolerate Nicholas Sparks’romantic fiction, I can say honestly, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. But to each their own, right?
I feel as of late, everyone wants to label Ryan Gosling as “America’s Next Greatest Actor.” Are they right in doing this? Or are The Notebook fangirls bringing the hype? I will not deny that Gosling put in great work in The Believer, his Oscar nominated turn in Half Nelson, Blue Valentine or even Crazy, Stupid, Love. But in my opinion, I feel that Gosling is overpraised and overexposed. Before the brutal shooting in Aurora, CO, Gosling’s new film trailer, Gangster Squad, was supposed to premiere with TDKR. Did you hear any Gosling fangirls get mad because they didn’t see him before seeing TDKR? No. This may have to do with the fact no one really knew until it was announced after the fact, but still, nobody up in arms when they heard the news. Maybe it was as simple as the hype is dying down due to his relationship with Eva Mendes and he doesn’t seem as accessible, or, the fangirls don’t come out to see TDKR with their significant others. I’m not sure.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the other hand, I feel, is certainly coming into his own as an actor. For years after 3rd Rock came out he was doing small, mostly independent films and attending (though not graduating) Columbia University. JGL has also started his own open collaborative production company called HitRecord. It is a way that writers, filmmakers, singers, etc can get into a collaborative effort and make their own voice heard, through the help of others. It’s a pretty interesting enterprise for someone already in the business to start, which his brother Dan, helped kick off the site to before his passing. Besides the production company, JGL seems to be the best underrated actor coming out of the fences these days. Yes, GI Joe was awful, but we can’t blame him solely for that. Joe has put out some solid performances recently, 500 Days of Summer where I couldn’t help route for him, 50/50 was maybe the best movie I saw last year, not only did it have heart, but you wanted his character to beat it so bad. Now, we have TDKR. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, but when we first meet his character John Blake, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen and where they would take his character by the end of the movie and I was not disappointed.
Gosling’s Gangster Squad and The Place Beyond the Pines are his next movies hitting theaters while Gordon-Levitt’s next three movies hitting the screens this year alone are Looper, Premium Rush and the Spielberg directed Lincoln. Are the Gosling fangirls going to come out in the masses for his movies, or is the excitement dying down? Will JGL continue to impress or has he just gotten lucky? Maybe I am being unfair in putting two actors of the same age together. I mean, who am I to say that there can’t be two “Next Best Actors” out there. But my money is on Joseph Gordon-Levitt who seems to have more charm and charisma. Tell me I’m wrong.
