Fired after gaining a lot of weight before a movie, Ryan Gosling got an explanation from the famous director who made the decision

New Zealand director Peter Jackson, famous for the “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, has explained after years the controversial decision to replace actor Ryan Gosling from another of his films, reports Variety magazine.

Gosling was set to star in “The Lovely Bones,” Jackson's 2009 dark drama about a murdered girl watching her family and murderer in purgatory. Gosling, who three years earlier had earned his first Oscar nomination for his performance in the psychological drama Half Nelson, was set to play the murdered girl's father in Peter Jackson's new film.

Gosling spoke about the director's decision to fire him in an interview with THR in 2010, stating that “I had a different vision of what the character should look like.”

“I actually thought he should be around 95 kilograms. We didn't discuss it much during the pre-production process, and that was the problem,” he explained, adding that he gained 27 kilograms for the role.

Although his firing caused controversy in Hollywood, Gosling stated in an interview several years later that he held no grudge against Jackson.

“It was a huge movie, and there were so many things to deal with that he couldn't deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set and miscast things. So I was fat and unemployed,” Gosling joked in comments made to THR.

What Peter Jackson is saying now about Gosling's firing

Present at the Cannes International Film Festival, where he was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or for his lifetime achievement, the acclaimed New Zealand director was asked about the decision to drop Gosling and replace him with American actor Mark Wahlberg.

“I'm not going to talk about specific examples of actors because it's a personal and private matter and it's not their fault,” Jackson began his response to a question posed to him during an audience discussion.

“Whenever we change an actor cast in a role, it's actually our fault because we didn't make the right choice and we cast the wrong person. It's not because they did anything wrong. So I won't talk about specific people, but you have to realize that what you imagined is not really happening, which means that we were wrong and we take full responsibility,” emphasized Peter Jackson.

He continued, “Ryan is a fantastic actor, as we know. Movies are chemistry both in front of the camera and behind it. It's chemistry in terms of what the actor conveys to the audience of the film. It's a complicated amalgam of communication, of how someone fits into a group of people, into a story, into a character. It's complicated, and usually you try very hard, when you're planning the movie and casting, to get that fit.” appropriate, but sometimes we make mistakes ourselves”.

The lead actress in the film also spoke about Gosling's firing

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, who played the lead role of the murdered girl in the 2009 film, talked about the dramatic change in the cast during an interview two years ago with the hosts of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.

Although Jackson only started filming The Lovely Bones in 2007 after Gosling's firing, Ronan revealed that the actors had already done “some of the preparations” by the time Wahlberg was brought in to replace him. She said she had grown close to Gosling and was saddened by his departure.

“I think I just adored Ryan and his dog, George, and I was sad that, you know, he wasn't going to be around anymore,” Ronan said. “But I think their reasons for going their separate ways were completely valid and I've spoken to both of them now [Gosling și Jackson]and such things happen (…) It is not necessarily something personal. Sometimes you're just not on the same page,” she said.

“Mark was able to step in and he was already a father,” added Ronan. “He was the father of, I don't know, three kids? He probably had that kind of life experience that Ryan felt he didn't have. Ryan was about 27. He was young,” she added.

Jackson's dismissal from the film did not slow down Ryan Gosling's career, however, as he subsequently became one of the hottest actors in Hollywood. After starring in “Barbie,” the highest-grossing film of 2023, he recently starred in the sci-fi film “Project Hail Mary,” one of the most popular feature films released in theaters this year.

In addition to the huge commercial success, Gosling received two other Oscar nominations – for “Barbie” and 2016's “La La Land” – but the statuette went to a different actor each time.