Watch Ryan Gosling Hilariously Reflect On His Career As A Young Dancer

Many A-list celebrities get off to decidedly un-glamorous starts in their careers, and talk show host Graham Norton often digs into the pasts of his guests to find some of the silliest and most ridiculous jobs in their pasts. He recently brought La La Land star Ryan Gosling onto his show to promote his new movie, and Gosling got a blast from the past when Norton produced a video of a young Ryan busting a move. Check out what Ryan Gosling had to say about his early years as a dancer:

Well, for any who were wondering about Ryan Gosling's background that gave him such presence in movies like Crazy, Stupid, Love and La La Land, the answer is clearly from his days as the only boy dancer in the Elite Dance Studio dance troupe. He may believe now that he was "old enough to know better" than to shimmy onstage with a crew of young girls to the tunes of Cathy Dennis's "Touch Me," but I'd say we're all better off for having seen the video of his dance moves. It's a good thing for everybody that Gosling wasn't intimidated by the twins who were channeling their inner Shining to ruin his dance career. Elite Dance Studio might not have been worthy of the name "Elite" if he had given up on the art of dance.

Personally, I have a hard time deciding on my favorite part of Ryan Gosling's reflections on his time as a dancer. My only real complaint about the dance number itself is that there just weren't enough sparkles involved. Sure, the purple shirt and silver hammer pants were snazzy, but there could have been more sparkles. I definitely can appreciate Gosling's pitch to bring hammer pants back into fashion, if only for famous folks. Future awards shows would certainly be more fun if they were attended by throngs of celebrity men in formal hammer pants, and La La Land is a contender for some of the top prizes at this year's Academy Awards. Could there be a more perfect time for Gosling to go for some throwback fashion? It clearly worked out for him last time.

Ryan Gosling has gotten some less embarrassing recognition for his musical talents recently. He won the 2017 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and it was only one of the trophies won by La La Land at the 2017 ceremony. In fact, La La Land broke a Golden Globes record by sweeping the board and winning all seven categories in which it was nominated. Gosling has changed his dancing ways since the days of hammer pants and Cathy Dennis, and it's definitely going well for him.

Tune see Ryan Gosling dancing - sadly, sans hammer pants - on the big screen, you can check out La La Land in theaters now. Take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch on the small screen in the not-too-distant future.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).