Can Ryan Gosling Really DRIVE Like a Stuntman?

In DRIVE, Ryan Gosling looked the part of a high-speed wheelman (Sierra-Affinity)

LOS ANGELES

Can Ryan Gosling really drive like the stuntman he portrayed in the movie “Drive”?

“Yes he can,” says Darrin Prescott, the movie’s stunt coordinator.

But did he?

“No, not really,” Mr. Prescott answered. “It didn’t work out that way. And it wasn’t because Ryan couldn’t do the driving – he could. It’s just that with the shooting schedule we had, Ryan was usually doing dialogue scenes with the first unit, while the second unit had to be out shooting the chase scenes. I know Ryan is really bummed about it.”

Mr. Prescott, who was also the second unit’s director, said he spent considerable time with Mr. Gosling behind the wheel.

“The director said, ‘Take Ryan and make him a stunt man. We want him to be able to do everything the script calls for him to do,’” Mr. Prescott said. “So we spent two months together, and I taught him exactly how to drive like a stuntman. And he picked it up.”

He added, “Ryan is probably the finest actor I’ve had the pleasure of training. He is a talented, talented, talented guy.”

Mr. Gosling was taught the intricacies of high speed driving, bootleg turns, spins and drifting.

“I got good at that stuff,” Mr. Gosling said.

The vehicle rollover scene would not have been something the movie’s insurance carrier would have appreciated Mr. Gosling doing, however.

“That’s real stunt man stuff,” Mr. Prescott said. “You can’t put your actors at risk like that.”

That said, Mr. Prescott notes that Christina Hendricks actually wound up riding along on the movie’s most dramatic chase sequence.

She looked terrified. Was that just good acting?

“No, I think she really was terrified!” Mr. Prescott said with a laugh.

Who was at the wheel of the Mustang in that scene, if Mr. Gosling wasn’t?

“A really great driver named Jeremy Fry,” said Mr. Prescott, who himself was actually driving the Chrysler 300 chasing the Mustang (in some of the scenes).

Mr. Fry made the news in 2009 when a Ferrari he was driving in New York’s Times Square went out of control and crashed, with unfortunate consequences. The city clamped down on car chase filming after that (a reason why “Date Night”, about a New Jersey couple’s wild night out in NYC had to be mostly filmed in Los Angeles!)

Anyway, Mr. Fry is still held in high esteem in the film industry, and his expert work in Drive speaks for itself.

“But next time I get to drive,” Mr. Gosling said, laughing. “In the sequel!”

Jerry Garrett

September 14, 2011