USA Today Article

When Ryan Gosling, then 19, shaved his head, bulked up and pasted on a tattoo to play a tormented Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer, he never thought the controversial film would find an audience.

"I didn't think being in it would hurt or benefit me," says the actor, now 21. "I just didn't think anyone would see it."

After a troubled journey from festival darling to untouchable film property, The Believer will premiere Sunday on Showtime (8 p.m. ET/PT) and in theaters in May.

In The Believer, Gosling plays Danny Balint, a Jew who embraces neo-Nazism while still clinging to Judaism.

Initially, the movie exceeded expectations. Based on the true story of Daniel Burros, the film bedazzled critics at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize.

But after generating enormous buzz, The Believer was shunned by studios after a rabbi at Los Angeles' Simon Wiesenthal Center pronounced the movie "a primer for anti-Semitism."

It was the kiss of death. "It killed the thing," says writer/director Henry Bean, who is Jewish.

"I just didn't understand how somebody could miss the intent of the filmmakers," Gosling says. "We were just asking the question, and we'll never know the answer."

Then Showtime stepped in. The Believer was scheduled to premiere Sept. 30, but after Sept. 11, the film was shelved. Now, Gosling's performance will finally see the light of day.

And Gosling couldn't be happier. "My friends in L.A. don't believe that I act," he says. "They think I'm working at a restaurant somewhere."

Gosling's journey from neophyte actor to neo-Nazi included Disney's Mickey Mouse Club -- alongside Britney Spears, Keri Russell and 'N Sync's J.C. Chasez -- and several forgettable TV shows before he beat out more than 150 actors to play Balint.

"He looked totally wrong, like a surfer," Bean says. "And then I found out he was an observant Mormon, and that really sold me. (He) understands what this is about, a religion with a history of persecution."

Says Gosling: "I didn't meet with any neo-Nazis, because I didn't think it was important. I can see hate all around me. I can pull it from other places."

His stark performance was hard even on his mother. "She watched the first 10 minutes, started crying and locked herself in the bathroom," Gosling says. "She let it marinate for a little bit and watched the whole film, and she called me back. She got it."

- Donna Freydkin