Ryan Gosling: My shrink wrote me a prescription that said ‘do comedy’

Ryan Gosling became known for playing “beautiful losers” in small independent films.

Now the actor has revealed he was encouraged to turn his back on such brooding roles in favour of light-hearted characters by a therapist who urged him to “do comedy”.

Gosling made his screen debut at 20 as a Nazi sympathiser in The Believer. He hit the big time playing Noah in 2004 tearjerker The Notebook.

From there, he played a lothario in Crazy, Stupid, Love, acted with George Clooney in The Ides Of March and starred in the Oscar-nominated Drive.

The actor’s next roles are in the more light-hearted The Nice Guys — a Seventies private detective movie with Russell Crowe — and La-La Land with Emma Stone.

In an interview with ES Magazine, Gosling, 35, said he enjoyed doing comedy — saying a “shrink” had suggested it might be good for his well-being to limit the number of dark, emotional roles he did.

“What’s nice with comedy is that you know it’s working if it’s funny,” he said. “With drama you can watch people in the wings [of a theatre] and you don’t know if they are suffering [with you] through your movie or they are just deeply bored.

"A long time ago I went to see a shrink and he wrote me a prescription that said: ‘Do comedy.’”

Canadian Gosling, who was suspended at school and was suspected to have ADHD, also spoke about his difficult childhood and the “game-changing moment” his uncle became an Elvis impersonator — which inspired him to pursue performance.

Aged 12, he joined the American talent show The Mickey Mouse Club, alongside Justin Timberlake.

The actor also spoke about the unwanted fuss he causes in women and gay men — but added: “It’s our time as men to be on the receiving end of the stick.

"I grew up with women so I’ve always been aware of it. When my mother and I walked to the grocery store, men would circle the block in cars. It was very, very scary, especially as a young boy. Very predatory — a hunt.”

Gosling has recently had his second child Amada with Eva Mendes following the birth of daughter Esmeralda 18 months ago.

He said: “I think women are better than men. They are stronger, more evolved. You can tell especially when you have daughters and you see their early stages, they are just leaps and bounds beyond boys immediately.”