Ryan Gosling Bombed His Audition For A Beloved 2000s TV Drama

Ryan Gosling is an Oscar-nominated actor who's proven he can lead a Hollywood blockbuster with ease. But fans of Amy Sherman-Palladino's mother-daughter teen drama "Gilmore Girls" might be disappointed to hear that he missed out on a role in that series quite early in his career.

According to a "behind-the-scenes" panel at the "Gilmore Girls" Fest back in 2015 that was moderated by Michael Ausiello — the founder of TVLine, who documented the event — casting directors Mara Casey and Jamie Rudofsky brought Gosling in for an audition for what they say was a small role. Why? Rudofsky had seen him audition before for a show she didn't name but referred to as a "gritty teen drama" and said she was blown away by him initially. In fact, she described it as "one of the most amazing auditions [she'd] ever seen."

That didn't translate to a great audition for "Gilmore Girls," though. Embarrassingly, Rudofsky said she pitched Gosling hard to Sherman-Palladino and the rest of the show's creative team, only for Gosling's "Gilmore Girls" audition to "[fall] flat." Gosling was, according to Rudofsky, auditioning to play an unnamed football player, but as someone who's watched "Gilmore Girls" over and over again, I'm actually really curious about the specifics of this role. That's why I'm going to fan-cast Ryan Gosling on "Gilmore Girls" and figure out a role that might have been perfect for him as a young performer.

Obviously, "Gilmore Girls" centered around the titular Gilmore girls — young mom Lorelai (Lauren Graham), her precocious teen daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel), and, less directly, Lorelai's uptight but big-hearted mother Emily (Kelly Bishop) — but the show also cast a lot of young male actors, especially to play Rory's love interests. That's where I want to return to this whole "football player" thing. There aren't any prominent football player characters in "Gilmore Girls." Part of the reason for this is because Rory attends an upscale preparatory school, Chilton, which doesn't appear to have a football team. The other reason is that, unlike most shows that feature a high school girl as a protagonist, "Gilmore Girls" isn't really about the high school experience but the relationship between Rory and Lorelai. To that point, Lorelai's storylines get equal billing with Rory's.

So with all of that said, I'd like to fancast Ryan Gosling in one of the prominent teen boy roles on "Gilmore Girls," especially because he and Bledel are so close to the same age in real life (Bledel was born in 1981 and Gosling just under a year prior). Gosling would have made a pretty good Dean Forester, Rory's first boyfriend, who was played by Jared Padalecki. We now know that Gosling has the snark required for Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), Rory's second and most short-lived boyfriend. I'm going to argue, though, that Gosling would have been a perfect Logan Huntzberger, with the utmost due respect to Matt Czuchry (who played the role in the series and its somewhat unpopular 2016 revival). Effortlessly charming and usually smirking, Gosling would have excelled as Logan. Thankfully, his career rebounded even though he didn't book "Gilmore Girls."

Ever since the 2004 romantic comedy "The Notebook," Ryan Gosling has remained one of Hollywood's most in-demand actors — to the point where he's managed to become one of the most successful and recognizable actors in the industry despite a handful of high-profile flops. (Why didn't any of you go and see "The Fall Guy" when it came out in 2024? That movie was so fun!) 

With three Academy Award nominations under his belt as of this writing — one for 2006's "Half Nelson," one for 2016's "La La Land," and one for 2023's "Barbie" — Gosling has proven that he's a deeply versatile and endlessly fun performer, whether he's showing off considerable comedic chops alongside Russell Crowe in "The Nice Guys" or taking on intense dramatic roles like the unnamed protagonist in "Drive." (Plus, he's a really great "Saturday Night Live" host.) After underrated projects like the legacy sequel "Blade Runner 2049" and "The Fall Guy" became box-office flops — yes, "Barbie" made a billion dollars, but Gosling was the supporting player and not the star — Gosling struck gold with 2026's "Project Hail Mary." One of the biggest box-office success stories of that year and likely one of 2026's very best movies, this Andy Weir adaptation is essentially a two-hander between Gosling's Ryland Grace, a science teacher charged with saving all of humanity from the effects of a fading sun, and an alien made of rocks. With any other actor in this role, "Project Hail Mary" might have stunk. Thanks to Gosling, it soars.

Casting directors might not have loved Gosling's audition for "Gilmore Girls," but he turned out okay. You can stream the teen drama on Hulu and Netflix.