Are You Afraid of the Dark’s Original Ryan Gosling Plan (& Why It Changed)
The original plan for Are You Afraid of the Dark included Ryan Gosling in its central cast as a member of the Midnight Society. However, although Gosling did appear in the series as a guest star, he didn't end up in the society's final lineup. Here's what happened.
Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark initially ran from 1990-1996. The kid-friendly horror anthology rapidly achieved cult classic status. It spawned two revivals and launched the careers of several of its young stars, including Elisha Cuthbert (Happy Endings) and JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Once Upon A Time). However, despite the original casting plan, Ryan Gosling (The Big Short) was not among them.
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Although Ryan Gosling was set to star in Are You Afraid of the Dark, he had other plans. Gosling was cast in a conflicting role, in the Mickey Mouse Club, at the same time. He did still appear on Are You Afraid of the Dark, but as a guest star, in a very memorable episode. In an interview (via Complex), Are You Afraid of the Dark co-creator D.J. MacHale explained Gosling's casting story. "When we got the series together, I wanted to cast Ryan in the Midnight Society, because I knew the kid was really good, but then he got the gig with the Mickey Mouse Club, with Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears." The conflict made it impossible for Gosling to appear as a member of the Midnight Society, so his part was recast.
That wasn't the end of the Gosling's Are You Afraid of the Dark saga, however. MacHale went on to recount that when Gosling returned to Canada after a two-year stint shooting the Mickey Mouse Club, MacHale cast him in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark.
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