14 DAY TRIAL // 2011 was the year of Ryan Gosling, even if the Academy isn't yet ready to acknowledge him properly. To cap off an amazing run, he's also been named the king of cool by Time magazine, a distinction that he's so cool he doesn't even want to comment on.
As it happens every year, 2011 will end with a bang – and countless end-year charts, each meant to highlight the best and the worst in various areas, from music, fashion to film and popularity.
Undoubtedly, Ryan will also feature on top positions in charts for best actors, best movies and most promising stars. In the meantime, he's just been named the Coolest Person of 2011 by Time Magazine.
It's no small feat to be thus honored, but Ryan obviously doesn't care about such “mundane” things, since he didn't want to comment it in any way when contacted by the publication.
It's precisely this why we love him so much, Time says: he's talented, he's relatable and he's very approachable, but, when it comes to being a celebrity, he's usually not too interested in playing the game.
Gosling is self-sufficient, good at his job, private and charming. In other words, he's the king of cool.
“We defined cool in the classic Marlon Brando way an unshakable calm mixed with a confidence that comes from not needing others. Cool is more how than what; we considered world leaders, singers, hackers and a newsmagazine columnist who one of us thought was an obvious pick,” Time writes.
“Ryan Gosling, the 2011 Coolest Person of the Year, is so cool that he refused to talk to me about this honor. Faced with this problem, other magazine franchises might back down and pick someone willing to play ball and be their publicity monkey, but the Coolest Person Committee is committed to the truth,” the publication further writes.
Ryan is also cool because of his job: he can do a variety of roles and can't be boxed in in just one category.
In 2011 only, he's been in 4 movies from different genres, raging from drama to action movie and romantic comedy.
Versatility, in other words, equals coolness.
“There is not a genre he is not comfortable in. Cool is being comfortable in your own skin. Everything stems from that,” Coolest Person Committee member Henry Winkler says for Time.
Even last year's Coolest Person James Franco agrees: in 2011, Time picked the right man for their Coolest distinction.