Saoirse Ronan recently reflected on the casting change that occurred during the production of Peter Jackson’s film “The Lovely Bones” while appearing on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
Originally, Ryan Gosling was cast to play the father of Ronan’s character, but he was replaced by Mark Wahlberg just days before filming started. This change came after a disagreement between Jackson and Gosling, who had gained 60 pounds for the role.
Although filming with Gosling never began, Ronan revealed that the cast had already done some preparation by the time Gosling was let go.
She had developed a bond with him and was disappointed by his departure.
“I think I just loved Ryan and his dog, George, and I was just sad that, you know, he wasn’t gonna be around,” Ronan said.
“But I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid, and I’ve spoken to both [Gosling and Jackson] now and it happens. Do you know what I mean? It’s not personal, necessarily. It’s like sometimes you’re just not on the same page.”
Ronan added that Wahlberg was able to step into the role, noting his experience as a father.
“Mark was able to step in, and he was a father,” she said. “He was a father to, like, I don’t know, three kids? He probably had an experience of that that Ryan felt he didn’t. Ryan was like 27. He was young.”
Ronan later had the opportunity to work with Gosling again when he cast her in his directorial debut, “Lost River.”
In an interview with THR a year after “The Lovely Bones” was released, Gosling opened up about the circumstances surrounding his dismissal, citing the weight gain as a major factor.
He explained, “We had a different idea of how the character should look. I really believed he should be 210 pounds. We didn’t talk very much during the preproduction process, which was the problem.”
Gosling went on to say, “It was a huge movie, and there’s so many things to deal with, and he couldn’t deal with the actors individually. I just showed up on set, and I had gotten it wrong. Then I was fat and unemployed.”
