The Actor: Ryan Gosling to lead Duke Johnson’s amnesia thriller

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

After signing on to star in films like Leigh Whannell's Wolfman, The Gray Man, and Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling will lead The Actor, an upcoming amnesia thriller. Directed by Duke Johnson from a script he wrote with Stephen Cooney, The Actor is based on Donald E. Westlake's novel Memory. 

According to Deadline, Gosling will play New York actor Paul Cole, who is beaten and left for dead in 1950s Ohio. Stripped of his memory and stranded in a mysterious small town, Paul struggles to get back home, piece together, and reclaim the life and identity he’s lost. The Actor follows a journey relatable to many: to find a home, to find love, and ultimately to find ourselves.

Gosling will produce The Actor alongside Waypoint Entertainment's Ken Kao, Johnson, and his Innerlight partner Abigail Spencer, and Paul Young via his Make Good studio.

Have you all seen Johnson's 2015 stop-motion animated film Anomalisa? It is not for the faint of heart in that it's possibly the most unnerving animated film I've ever seen. It stars David Thewlis as Michael Stone, a man crippled by the mundanity of his life who experiences something out of the ordinary, a life-altering woman named Lisa Hesselman (Jennifer Jason Leigh). This movie is not, I repeat, not for kids. In addition to being an emotional journey on many levels, the film includes scenes of stop-motion animated sex that will stay with you long after the film is over. Watch at your own peril.

The Actor marks yet another occasion in which Gosling will work with Kao, seeing as they're teaming on the Phil Lord and Chris Miller-directed adaptation of the Andy Weir novel Project Hail Mary as well as Leigh Whannell’s Wolfman.