Ryan Gosling was director David Leitch’s first choice for the lead role for his upcoming movie The Fall Guy.

In the movie, which is loosely based on the ’80s TV series of the same name, the Drive actor plays a stuntman who is tasked with finding a missing A-list action star to save his love interest’s directorial debut.

The Deadpool 2 director explained to Empire that Gosling was his first choice because he knew he was capable of doing comedy, romance and action thanks to his roles in films such as Barbie, The Notebook and The Gray Man.

“We had a really interesting conversation with him when we got involved with the project really early on,” Leitch told the outlet to celebrate the release of the trailer. “He said, ‘I’ve come to this place in my career where I’ve done action, I’ve just finished The Gray Man, I’ve done romance, I’ve done comedy, but this is the where I get to use all the tools in my tool box and I can really let loose.’ I think you’ll see all of those dynamics from one of the best actors working in our time.”

The stuntman-turned-director wanted to adapt the TV show into a movie to shine a light on “the love and passion” in the stunt community.

“This movie is a love story, but also a love story in terms of making movies,” he explained. “To the stunt community, and all the below-the-line, blue-collar artisans that craft these films that we love to see in the cinema. That’s really how we wanted to enter it. You might think that the stunt guy doesn’t get seen and he gets a little jaded because he wants the spotlight, but they don’t.

“It’s really the joy of making movies and how the stunt community embraces that. And they’re the heart and soul of it.”

The Fall Guy, co-starring Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, will be released on 1 March 2024.

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