BBC Films Interview with Ryan Gosling

How did you hear about the role of Danny Balint, the character you play in "The Believer"?
A couple of my friends were auditioning for it, and I was helping one of them with his lines. As I read it, I realised I wanted to play Danny real bad. So I begged to get an audition. I was lucky that Henry [Bean, the writer/director] fitted me in as his last appointment, and then I got the role.

What was the appeal of this character, a Jewish man who becomes a rabid neo-Nazi?
My friends were talking about this being such a great part - and it clearly is - but it's an obvious contradiction. I didn't know at the time that it was based on a true story. More than anything I felt the film had such a reverence for a faith that I had such respect for. I wanted to meet the guy who wrote it.

Not being Jewish yourself, was it especially important to get the religious detail right in the role?
Yes it was. Henry's wife is the daughter of a rabbi, and she spent many, many hours working on my Hebrew. I can still hear her in my head, and when I watch the film I can hear the difference. It was more important to me to understand what it's like to be this Jewish kid who felt he was so different at such a young age. I feel the story is about a kid who came to hate through love, so I felt I had to learn why he loved this thing so much that he also apparently hated it.

- Anwar Brett