Ryan Gosling

OF BREAKER HIGH ON UPN/YTV

Q: Someone told me that Ryan Gosling was a child star on television. Is that true?

A: It is, though he ultimately limited his home-screen career so that he would be considered for dramatic roles in movies, which he feared his TV fame was interfering with. He tried out for a mid-1990s version of “The Mickey Mouse Club” and landed the job, being cast along with Justin Timberlake (who reportedly became a good friend of his at the time), Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. He relocated from his native Canada to Orlando, Fla., for that two-year gig.

After that ended, Gosling went back to Canada and found work on such shows as “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and “Goosebumps,” and he had a leading role in the comedy-drama series “Breaker High.” He then went to New Zealand for the title part in the show “Young Hercules,” which was the project that made him decide to pursue a different direction with his career, largely since he wanted to play a variety of roles. Gosling’s agent parted ways with him, but the actor still secured parts in such movies as “Remember the Titans” (2000), “The Believer” (2001), “Murder by Numbers” (2002) and “The United States of Leland” (2003). He really cemented his place as a film star with the 2004 hit “The Notebook,” which teamed him with Rachel McAdams (with whom he had a personal relationship after the filming). After that, Gosling continued to focus on feature films almost exclusively. Somewhat ironically, his next one is a reboot of a TV series, “The Fall Guy”; it’s slated to be in theaters in early

May.