Santa Barbara

Ryan Gosling speaks onstage while accepting award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Kirk Douglas Award Honoring Ryan Gosling at The Ritz Carlton Bacara on January 13, 2024 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for Santa Barbara International Film Festival)

After a joyous pre-reception, attendees joined the award recipient for an upscale dinner. During the evening’s festivities, a wide range of figures, including SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, director Greta Gerwig, and Crazy, Stupid, Love and The Big Short co-star Steve Carell shared many a kind word about the Oscar-nominated actor Ryan Gosling.

Roger Durling said: “In 2023, Ryan becomes the biggest special effect in the cultural phenomenon that is Barbie, directed by the magician that is Greta Gerwig.”

Roger Durling said: “Ryan is pitch perfect in Barbie - perfect in timing, vulnerable, and having the time of his life.”

Roger Durling called Ryan: “One of the best actors working in cinema today.”

Roger Durling said about the evening that, “This is the first time in our history that we’ve done this event that it’s sold out. And it has raised the most amount of money ever. Kudos to the Ken-ergy and Ryan Gosling.”

Roger Durling said: “One of the many things that I admire about Ryan is that on screen, to me, Ryan always comes across as soulful and seemingly preoccupied with some profound mystery.”

Roger Durling said: “No current American actor has made more first-class films in so many genres.”

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Steve Carell opened his speech by joking that: “Ryan Gosling is a delightful guy. He is polite, he tends to keep to himself, he is professional. But that’s not why we’re all here tonight. Tonight I want to ask the question - why do I hate Ryan Gosling?”

Steve Carell shared that: “Ryan Gosling was going to spend his Friday night playing music at a senior center.”

Steve Carell said: “Did you know that he once saved a woman from being hit by a taxi? Saved a dog from being run over on the highway? De-escalated a confrontation between total strangers? Drove to New Orleans to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? Did you know that the only reason we know that he did any of these things is because someone saw him? Ryan Gosling doesn’t advertise his good deeds.”

Steve Carell said: “Time after time he makes interesting creative choices. He’s not driven by money, or fame, or status. … What makes it worse is that it’s genuine.”

Steve Carell joked: “I do love Ryan Gosling. I love him more than my wife. He is smart and intuitive and funny, he is a joy to be around, and most of all, and this is a big one for me, he is kind. Santa Barbara, you got this one right.”

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Speaking about Greta Gerwig, Roger Durling said: “In three films she has established herself as one of the greatest directors and one of the most important voices.”

Greta’s introduction was followed by a standing ovation.

Greta Gerwig said: “There is no one that I would rather be giving a speech about than Ryan  Gosling. He is so outrageously talented, it’s hard to know where exactly to begin.”

Greta Gerwig said: “I love, and everyone loves, referencing other actors when they talk about Ryan, because he is such a delicious and totally unexpected combination of genius. He has the burning intensity of Marlon Brando, the tragic realism of Montgomery Cliff, the virtuosic slickness of John Travolta, the sly wit of Gene Wilder.”

Greta Gerwig said: “He doesn’t create a distance between himself and his characters. He never winks at the audience to tell them that he, Ryan Gosling, is apart from them. He allows it all to exist within him, and he never hedges.”

Greta Gerwig said (of Ryan and Kirk): “They commit to characters in all their beauty and their ugliness. Because they are actors and people who believe that redemption is possible. It is a philosophical position illustrated through acting.”

Greta Gerwig said: “There’s a thing in poker where to keep playing, everyone has to put in more chips. And that’s what it’s like working with Ryan Gosling. If you want to keep playing, you need to ante up.”

Greta Gerwig said: “From the moment we started talking, he just understood. … There would be no Barbie if he hadn’t come to be our Ken.”

“It was a commitment beyond anything I could have dreamed.”

Greta Gerwig said: “As time went on, I realized didn’t need to caveat anything. He knew it was important.”

“With his total commitment to Barbie, he’s saying this is important. He’s cosigning this importance by his commitment and his presence and his art.”

Greta Gerwig said: “I don’t know if I’ve ever been quite as happy as when I’ve seen him act.”

Greta Gerwig said: “That’s just my whole soul on display in the guise of a male actor playing a doll.”

Greta Gerwig said: “As bananas as it sounds, I feel more than a little bit saved by Ryan’s acting.”

Greta Gerwig said: “I could not think of a more perfect person to present to Ryan than Kirk Douglas - genius to genius.”

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Ryan Gosling said: “I was not emotionally prepared for tonight.”

Ryan Gosling said: “If I knew that Steve and Greta were going to be this great - charming, smart, gracious, funny - I would have suggested that I open and they close - so we can end on a high note.”

Ryan Gosling joked: “It’s hard to feel deserving of all this, but I remind myself that the proceeds go to a wonderful cause, so it doesn't really matter if I deserve it or not.”

Ryan Gosling said, speaking to Kirk Douglas’ legacy: “He is completely and utterly in a class of his own… and I’m just Ken?”

Speaking to his early career, Ryan Gosling said: “By playing other people, I was learning who I was in the process.”

On his presenters, Ryan Gosling said:  “I can’t think of two more gracious and talented people.”

On Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling said: “He was so damn funny that the boom operator dropped the boom to hold his ribs. That’s how hard he was laughing. It’s the first time I've seen someone be so good it was a problem.”

On Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling said: “I don’t even know where to start with Greta. Even though she was making one of the biggest films of all time, she never let the weight of the task get in the way of what was important.”

Ryan Gosling said: “But most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children. I dreamed of making movies and now movies have made my life a dream.”

Ryan Gosling said: “No way I have contributed half as much to cinema as cinema has given to me.”