La La Land made waves when it came out in 2016, and not just because of the La La Land and Moonlight Oscars snafu. The movie was a legitimately popular vehicle for Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, not to mention director Damien Chazelle, and we’re still taking about its memorable ending years later. It’s not the ending that keeps Ryan Gosling up at night, though. There’s another moment from filming that haunts him.
The La La Land Scene That Still ‘Haunts’ Ryan Gosling Totally Makes Sense To Me
Listen, La La Land features a series of colorful and memorable dance sequences, one of which involves Emma Stone’s character Mia and Ryan Gosling’s Sebastian dancing on an overlook in Los Angeles' popular Griffith Park. The scene is lit by a dusky skyline and a streetlamp, and it's expertly choreographed. It's a great movie moment in one of the best Gosling movies. Only the actor says it ain’t so, and it ‘haunts’ him to this day.
There’s a moment that haunts me, where we’re dancing, Emma and I, and we – I didn’t know this would become the poster – but I thought we were supposed to have our hands up. And I thought it’d be cool to put my hand like that [flips his hand to a 90 degree angle]. Even though everyone told me it wasn’t cool. I was sure that that [straight hand] was cooler than that [90 degree angle hamburger hand].
To be fair, Gosling had some dance lessons before he was even on Mickey Mouse Club and later trained separately for the gig in La La Land. So, he's not completely in the dark when it comes to dancing; however, his instincts weren't rock solid, here. Given it only took four takes to complete the Griffith Park dance sequence, he didn't have a lot of time to correct, either.
Ryan Gosling Can Thank The La La Land Poster For Flaunting His Mistake
In fact, you don’t need to look any further than the movie’s poster to see his mistake.
Given the poster is pretty much everywhere and is one of the iconic things associated with this movie, I can see how the weird title of his wrist really sticks out, even years later, with him admitting to the Wall Street Journal:
Now when I look at it, and I have to see it all the time, you know what would have been cooler then this [poster], that [perfect straight hand]. It just killed the energy that way.
The interviewer later confirms his “90 degree” concern is called a hamburger hand to professional dancers given it mimics a top bun, and it seems like no one had told the actor this previously. In fact, he’s given it it’s own nickname that’s cracking me up:
It was all leading to, what? Just like a lazy… I call it La La Hand.
When filming a movie, actors often do multiple takes and are kind of at the mercy of directors, editors and other members of the creative team when it comes to the final project. That’s one reason why some actors like Adam Driver don’t love watching their own stuff. It’s the mistakes they often see rather than the pockets of greatness. But in Gosling’s case, here, it's particularly egregious because all he needs to see is the poster to be reminded of how silly he made himself look.
As far as BTS La La Land facts go, though, the whole thing is kind of charming.
