On Song for an Oscar?

Will Ryan Gosling’s musical talents bring him a Best Actor award?

- John Hiscock

If Ryan Gosling wins a Best Actor Oscar for charming modern-day musical La La Land on Sunday night, don’t be surprised if there’s an unusual name-check in his acceptance speech.

While most actors are inspired to embark on their careers by the likes of Robert De Niro or their school drama teacher, Gosling has a rather different source.

ALL SHOOK UP ‘It was my uncle Elvis Perry, an Elvis impersonator,’ he says. ‘He showed me there was a whole other world out there.’

Gosling was seven years old and living with his family in the small Canadian paper mill town of Cornwall when his flamboyant uncle changed his life forever.

‘We were living very normal, boring lives and then my uncle came to live with us. One day he showed up in a dazzling white jumpsuit and said he was going to be an Elvis impersonator and he wanted us all to be in his act,’ Gosling recalls with a laugh. ‘Life got really fun for a while.’