Coming off of "Young Hercules" and "Breaker High" in the late '90s, Ryan Gosling was starting to truly rise as a young actor. Up until "Remember the Titans," Gosling mostly had guest spots, recurring roles, or starring roles in either TV series or TV movies — "Remember the Titans" was his second feature film role ever aside from 1996's "Frankenstein and Me" (via IMDb). In the film, he played Alan Bosley, one of the white students from the pre-integrated T.C. Williams High School football roster.
Bosley has a small, but meaningful arc in the film, as he is initially a little apprehensive about the incoming Black players without being too loud about it like Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst), and ultimately gets over his preconceived notions with the rest of the team. By the end of the film, he's comfortable as a cornerback, teammate, and human being. He reflects a light-hearted spirit in the film as well — and can be seen dancing and cracking jokes with his Black teammates.
Gosling hasn't spoken much on the role in recent years, but in an interview with Entertainment Tonight back at the premiere of the film in 2000, he noted his appreciation for working with Denzel Washington and his gifts as an artist, also joking that he didn't have to do much acting when Washington was screaming at them all of the time. Gosling would be the star of a feature film only one year later in 2001's "The Believer," and the rest is history. Gosling is currently in post-production for Joe and Anthony Russo's "The Gray Man."
