While prepping to step into the shoes of Seavers inthe upcoming remake ofThe Fall Guy,Gosling, 43, met and chatted withLee Majors, who originated the role in the 1980s CBS series.
“He came out to Australia and I had an opportunity to talk to him and spend the day with him,” Gosling tells PEOPLE of Majors, 84, while on the red carpet at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday night, where he received the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. “It was pretty great.”
“He’s so funny and he’s very lovely and gracious,” Gosling adds of the veteran actor.
Lee Majors in ‘The Fall Guy’ (1981).Robert Phillips/ABC/Everett Collection
Robert Phillips/ABC/Everett Collection
In the action-comedy, which premieres in theaters on March 1, Gosling stars alongside his former flame Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) as she ropes him into helping her film an explosive sci-fi Western after the original leading man (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) mysteriously disappears.
Gosling also confirmed to PEOPLE that the show’s theme song, “The Unknown Stuntman,” will be featured in the film.
Though Majors originally sang it for the show, Gosling will not be singing it this time around, though he teases: “A pretty great artist sings it, so I’m excited for people to hear it.”
Ryan Gosling accepts the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.River Callaway/Variety via Getty
River Callaway/Variety via Getty
David Leitch directed the movie, and toldVanity Fairthat it’s “a love letter to stunts and the blue-collar crews that make these movies come to life.”
A former stuntman himself — forMatt DamoninThe Bourne UltimatumandBrad PittinFight Club— Leitch wanted the film to be as authentic as it could be. He said the crew “explored doing old-school high falls into airbags, and jumping a car as far as we could, and rolling a car as many times as we could.”
The role was a perfect one for Gosling, Leitch noted, because he has “done action, he’s done romance, he’s done comedy, but this movie allowed him to do all of it.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
At Saturday’s SBIFF ceremony, Gosling accepted the Kirk Douglas Award after touching speeches fromSteve CarellandGreta Gerwighighlighted his skills as an actor and his character.
The actor thanked Carell and Gerwig for their kind words, and SBIFF for the “very special honor.” He also gave a sweet shout-out to his wife,Eva Mendes— whomhe called “the girl of my dreams”— and their “two dream children,” Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7.
“I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream,” Gosling said.
source: people.com
