Ryan Gosling: Movie practice was dangerous

The 30-year-old actor plays a character simply known as Driver in Nicolas Winding Refn’s action drama which scooped Nicolas a best director gong at the Cannes International Film Festival yesterday.

The picture follows a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman, and Ryan admits he put himself in some tricky situations when preparing for the part.

“It’s a dangerous hobby to get into. First of all it’s dangerous, second of all you can’t do it anywhere,” he explained in a video interview with Empire Online.

“I was having to sneak into areas of LA that nobody was at night just to practice my tricks.”

Ryan also explained how he watched plenty of episodes of British television show Top Gear to get into character. The motoring magazine show is particularly famed for one segment of the programme where laps around a track are completed to review the performance of vehicles, and Ryan would be thrilled if he was given the opportunity to take part.

“I watched a lot of Top Gear when I was getting ready for the movie,” he smiled. “You think we’ll get on Top Gear? That would be the best.”