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"Millions of women and men would disagree with director Nick Cassavetes -- who cast a then-unknown Ryan Gosling in The Notebook because, well, he wasn&amp;apos;t that cute.\r\nNow one of the most sought-after hunks in Hollywood, the Drive actor, 31, was just a Mickey Mouse Club alum and indie movie actor when Cassavetes was casting for his now-beloved 2004 romantic film.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;The director, Nick Cassavetes, called me to meet him at his house,&amp;quot; Gosling tells British magazine Company. &amp;quot;When I got there, he was standing in his back yard, and he looked at me and said, &amp;apos;I want you to play this role because you&amp;apos;re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You&amp;apos;re not handsome, you&amp;apos;re not cool, you&amp;apos;re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nGosling went on to star in the smash film opposite fellow Canadian Rachel McAdams -- whom he dated and was briefly engaged to.\r\nAnd despite his leading  man status today, Gosling tells the mag he grew up a &amp;quot;lonely child. I didn&amp;apos;t do well at school and TV was my only friend.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nIt was watching the small screen that inspired him to go Hollywood himself.  &amp;quot;Then, one day, I saw Raquel Welch on The Muppet Show. She was dancing with this big furry spider and I immediately fell in love. She was the first crush I ever had, and I thought, &amp;apos;How do I get to meet this woman?&amp;apos; And then I thought, &amp;apos;Well, she&amp;apos;s on TV, so to meet her I have to get on TV myself.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/ryan-gosling-notebook-director-told-me-i-wasnt-handsome-or-cool-20111212>