10 Young Actors With The Potential To Be All-Time Greats

6. Ryan Gosling

Unfortunately, Ryan Gosling is still known by a lot of people from his work in romantic films like The Notebook and Crazy, Stupid, Love, films which don't even really begin to show his talent as an actor. Luckily, in the last few years his films have become much more diverse and interesting and it looks like he's about to hit the ground running for his prime years as long as he doesn't follow through on the rumors he might take a break from acting. A former child actor, Gosling started out on the Disney Channel and after that appeared in a number of family films. He gained prominence for his role in The Notebook but his first really good role came in Half Nelson, where he played a drug addicted teacher. Although the rest of the film was decidedly mediocre, Gosling's performance was a revelation and earned him an Oscar nomination. After two more acclaimed roles in Lars and the Real Girl and Fracture, he took a break from acting but returned in force in 2010 with a powerhouse performance in Blue Valentine. In 2011, Gosling starred in a trio of films that established him as one of the best working actors: Crazy, Stupid, Love., The Ides of March, and Drive. This year, Gosling turned in a brilliant performance in The Place Beyond The Pines and also reunited with Nicholas Winding Refn for Only God Forgives. Despite his rumored break from acting, he has an unspecified role in one of Terrence Malick's upcoming films which we can still look forward to seeing him in. Gosling has a natural screen presence that sets him apart from other actors. He plays the strong silent type better than almost anyone and his performance in Drive is almost the textbook example of someone playing an unstoppable killer. Gosling just needs a few more high-profile roles before everyone realizes that he is one of the best modern actors, not just the guy who shows up in some crappy romantic comedies every once in a while.