Ryan Gosling: intense young actor, fond of difficult indies, matinee idol potential... and a comedian? The actor best known for looking tortured onscreen is apparently taking a bit of a detour, signing on to star alongside Steve Carell in an untitled comedy at Warner Bros. According to Variety the story follows "a father dealing with a martial crisis," who will be played by Carell. Gosling plays the "suave best friend," who apparently tries to help Carell out.

Dan Fogelman, who wrote Disney's surprisingly delightful Bolt, wrote the original spec script, and I Love You Phillip Morris writers John Requa and Glenn Ficarra are taking a pass at it now. I actually love the idea of Gosling as a ladies man best friend-- we all know by now he's capable of everything, so why not this? Plus, he captured so many hearts in The Notebook that the one-two punch of Michael Scott and Noah Calhoun may actually equal box office success.