Humble Young Herc - TV Guide (Canada) - 1999 (April 17-23)
This article is from the Canadian magazine TV Guide, dated April 17-23, 1999, featuring Ryan Gosling.
The high-res magazine scans are from Bryn, donated by Donna.
Humble Young Herc
By Sion Wulffhart.
At first glance, Ryan Gosling doesn't fit the preconceived notion of what Hercules would look like during his Dawson's Creek years. It's a fact that the 18-year-old Ontario native doesn't deny.
"I though they'd be looking for some young stud," Gosling admits. "When I told my friends that I was auditioning for Young Hercules, they laughed at me and said 'Well, no offense Ryan, but look at you. You're scrawny!'" Competing, as Gosling puts it, against "linebackers and beefcake," he managed to convince producers that boys would relate to someone of his slight physique rather than a young Schwarzenegger-in-training. Herc, Gosling believed, should suffer through the same adolescent awkwardness facing teens.
Blending action, humor and teen angst, Young Hercules is sent to an academy where he hones his skills for good, not evil. Joined by mythological mates Jason, Iolaus and Lilith, Herc is able to practice his drop kicks and backflips on everything from demons to creatures that fester underground. Like many teens, he spends most of his time fighting with his family, who, in this case, want to kill him. (Watching him rumble with his stepsister, half brother and stepmother would make even a Jerry Springer guest blush.)
Filmed on location in New Zealand, Gosling awaits word on the series' fate which is currently up in the air. Despite the distance, the former Breaker High star notes that, "New Zealanders are a lot like Canadians, they're very laid back and easygoing." But he still misses some of Canada's simple pleasures. "You can't get a decent hotdog here, plus I miss bacon and Tim Hortons doughnuts." Not exactly the breakfast of champions or, in this case, demigods.
