Hey girl. Canada has a present for you — vintage Ryan Gosling, complete with an adorable Canadian accent.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, CTV’s morning news show Canada AM is re-releasing some of its older interviews with now-famous local talent, including Drake (who starred on the Canadian teen soap Degrassi), Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, and, of course, Gosling.
These days, the Drive actor is one of Hollywood’s most famous A-listers. But back when CTV first spoke with him in 1993, he was just a normal 12-year-old — albeit a very charming, well-spoken 12-year-old — who had just booked a gig alongside fellow soon-to-be stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Keri Russell on Disney’s revival of the Mickey Mouse Club.
Clad in a collared denim shirt and patterned tie (so ’90s!), the future Oscar nominee raved to Canada AM about beating out 15,000 other young actors to become “Canada’s only official Mouseketeer.”
How did the tween react when he got the call to move to Florida? “I hit the roof. It was so fun. My mother and I — we were just jumping around,” he gushed, adding that he was excited “aboot” the chance to meet some celebrities. (His dream list at the time included Michael Jordan and the late Michael Jackson.)
Gosling has come a long way since those pre-pubescent denim-shirt days. He’s currently filming an untitled Terrence Malick project — co-starring Christian Bale, Rooney Mara, and Natalie Portman, among others — set to come out next year.
