Ryan Gosling Reveals Burt Reynolds Had a Crush on His Mom Donna

Ryan Gosling is opening up about his early days as an actor.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, May 1, Gosling, 43, recalled working with the late Burt Reynolds on the 1996 movie Frankenstein and Me.

As Kimmel questioned Gosling on whether the Deliverance star, who died at age 82 on Sept. 6, 2018, was friendly on set, the Canadian actor admitted he was, but added that it was likely because Reynolds had a thing for his mom Donna. 

“I’m surprised you don’t know it. Frankenstein and Me,” Gosling laughed as Kimmel mentioned his first movie role. 

The movie tied into their discussion about Gosling playing stuntman Colt Seavers in his new movie, The Fall Guy, as Reynolds was a stuntman before he became an actor.

Gosling starred as Kenny in his feature film debut, while Reynolds played Les Williams.

When asked whether he spent much time with Reynolds on set, Gosling, who was 13 or 14 at the time, admitted, “It’s complicated.”

“Because I thought he took a shine to me. I thought he thought there was something special about me. And then I realized that I have a really beautiful mom,” Gosling said of his mom Donna, who attended the 2024 Oscars with the actor on March 10.

“He was just kind of interested. It was like I was getting like a secondary shine. The real shine was for my mom. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is secondary shine,’ ” the Notebook star went on.

“How long did it take you to figure that out?” Kimmel questioned, as Gosling joked, “I wish I had found out sooner,” clarifying that his mom “loved” the attention despite “nothing” ever happening between her and Reynolds.

Kimmel then pointed out, “You could have been Ryan Reynolds on the acting scene. had that worked out!” in a reference to Gosling’s fellow Canadian actor.

“This close,” Gosling laughed, before admitting Burt Reynolds gave him an “odd piece of advice.”

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“He was like, ‘Let me tell you something kid, Don’t spend your whole life stepping over diamonds to live with a cubic zirconia,’ ” Gosling recalled, adding: “I was like, ‘I’m 13. I don’t know what any of those things are.’ I don’t know what any of that is. Stop looking at my mom. I’m right here.”

Gosling has been promoting his latest movie The Fall Guy, in which he stars alongside Emily Blunt, 41, who plays his former flame, director Jody Moreno. The pair reunite so Seavers can help Moreno film a blockbuster sci-fi Western. However, things take a turn when the movie’s big star suddenly goes missing.

The Fall Guy is in theaters on May 3.