Gosling began his acting career when he was 13 on Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1993–1995), and went on to appear in other family entertainment programs, including Are You Afraid of the Dark?

He starred in the critically acclaimed independent dramas Half Nelson (2006), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; Lars and the Real Girl (2007); and Blue Valentine (2010).

In 2011, Gosling had three mainstream successes in the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love, the political drama The Ides of March, and the action thriller Drive.

In 2023, he played Ken in the fantasy comedy Barbie, which emerged as his highest-grossing release and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He wanted to spend more time sitting with and devising a character as well as play a variety of roles, so he chose to transition into film and not accept any more television work.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly described him as "a phenomenal talent even in junk like this"[41] while Todd McCarthy felt that the "strong and "charismatic" young actors were "let down by the screenplay".

[43] His second screen appearance of 2002 was in The Slaughter Rule with David Morse which explores the relationship between a high school football player and his troubled coach in rural Montana.

"[49] A. O. Scott of The New York Times noted that he "struggles to rescue Leland from the clutches of cliché"[50] while David Rooney of Variety felt that his "one-note, blankly disturbed act has none of the magnetic edge of his breakthrough work in The Believer".

[66][67][68][69] In 2005, Gosling appeared as a disturbed young art student in Stay, a psychological thriller film co-starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.

"[75] Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle drew comparisons with Marlon Brando and asserted that "nobody who cares about great acting will want to miss his performance".

[80] Roger Ebert felt "a film about a life-sized love doll" had been turned into "a life-affirming statement of hope" because of "a performance by Ryan Gosling that says things that cannot be said".

[89] Claudia Puig of USA Today declared that "watching a veteran like Hopkins verbally joust with one of the best young actors in Hollywood is worth the price of admission".

[98] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that he "plays Dean as a snarky working-class hipster, but when his anger is unleashed, the performance turns powerful.

[119] Gosling played a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a getaway driver, and he has described the film as a "violent John Hughes movie": "I always thought if Pretty in Pink had head-smashing it would be perfect".

[120] Roger Ebert compared Gosling to Steve McQueen and stated that he "embodies presence and sincerity ... he has shown a gift for finding arresting, powerful characters [and] can achieve just about anything.

[123] In his final appearance of 2011, Gosling co-starred with Philip Seymour Hoffman in the political drama The Ides of March directed by George Clooney, in which he played an ambitious press secretary.

"[126] In a generally tepid review, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times asserted that it was "certainly involving to see the charismatic Gosling verbally spar with superb character actors like Hoffman and [Paul] Giamatti.

"[127] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle felt there was "one aspect to the character that Gosling can't quite nail down, that might simply be outside his sphere, which is idealism.

[134] However, Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times felt that there was "a seductive power" in the scenes shared by Gosling and Stone: "But like too much else in the film, it's a scenario that is only half played out.

"[135] In The Place Beyond the Pines, a generational drama directed by Blue Valentine's Derek Cianfrance,[136] Gosling played Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider who robs banks to provide for his family.

"[26] A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised his performance, writing: "Mr. Gosling's cool self-possession — the only thing he was allowed to display in "Drive" — is complicated, made interesting, by hints of childlike innocence and vulnerability.

It's a close variation on the role Gosling played to stronger effect in Nicolas Winding Refn's existential Hollywood thriller, Drive, where it was clear the character was meant to be an abstraction.

"[155] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph described Lost River as "mind-bogglingly pleased with itself",[156] while Variety's Justin Chang dismissed the "derivative" film as a "train-wreck.

David Sims of The Atlantic felt that he was "smarmily funny, somehow simultaneously magnetic and repulsive; after years wandering the halls of mediocre art cinema, it's wonderful to see him cut loose again.

[161] Robbie Collin praised his chemistry with co-star Emma Stone, writing: "Both stars are so attuned to each other's pace and flow that their repartee just seems to tumble out, perfectly formed.

[171] Writing for IndieWire, Michael Nordine commended him for bringing "quiet charisma" and "grace" to his role, while Nicholas Barber of the BBC hailed him as the "best deadpan actor in the business".

[174] After a four-year break from film, Gosling returned starring in the 2022 spy-action thriller The Gray Man, opposite Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.

[198] However, Spin felt the album "doesn't reverse the rule that actors make dubious pop musicians"[199] and Entertainment Weekly criticized its "cloying, gothic preciousness".

[200] In September 2009, Gosling and Shields had a three-night residency at LA's Bob Baker Marionette Theater where they performed alongside dancing neon skeletons and glowing ghosts.

His performances in Lars and the Real Girl (2007),[232] Blue Valentine (2010),[233] The Ides of March, and Crazy, Stupid, Love (both 2011);[234] also earned him Golden Globe nominations.