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The upcoming 10th anniversary of Damien Chazelle’s musical romantic-comedy La La Land has people talking. Not about the cinematography, the iconic ending or even that infamous Academy Awards fiasco.
They’re talking about Ryan Gosling’s wrist.
Ahead of a celebratory re-release that will hit theatres across the U.S. on Aug. 16, Lionsgate Studios unveiled a new La La Land poster addressing a detail that Gosling said “haunts” him.
In a 2024 interview with the Wall Street Journal, the Canadian actor was asked if there was one role he would like a chance to do over. Gosling admitted he’d like another crack at his Oscar-nominated performance as jazz pianist Sebastian Wilder.
“I didn’t know that this would become the poster for the movie,” Gosling said, recalling a pivotal dance sequence alongside co-star Emma Stone overlooking a Los Angeles sunset.
“[Stone and I] were supposed to have our hands up, and I thought it would be cool to put my hand like that,” he said, flattening an outstretched wrist with pointed fingers to a limper pose the interviewer referred to as “hamburger hands.”
“Even though everyone told me it wasn’t cool, I was sure that that was cooler than that,” he continued, recreating both gestures. However, Gosling went on to say he now thinks the limper pose he struck “just killed the energy.”
The new poster, which features an altered version of Gosling’s pose that more closely resembles Stone’s straight arm and hand, was accompanied by a winking press release where Lionsgate wrote, “Well, Ryan, you have been heard!”
Gosling’s first attempt at revisionist history for the poster came earlier this year during the promotion for his sci-fi smash Project Hail Mary.
“This is my Hail Mary attempt to fix my ‘La La Hand,'” Gosling said in a clip posted to TikTok, before striking a straight-armed version of the pose alongside Rocky, his puppeteered alien co-star.
While unveiling the new poster, Justin Manfredi, executive vice-president of worldwide television marketing at Lionsgate, said that Gosling was “happy” when they consulted him about the change.
“We let him know and he approved it,” Manfredi said at the promotional screening held at Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory, a key location in the film.
However, not everyone’s as thrilled as Gosling.
“I got it tattooed the other way. So, respectfully, don’t even,” one user commented on Lionsgate’s Instagram post announcing the altered poster. Other users on Instagram and TikTok expressed disappointment, arguing the mismatched poses better communicated the film’s themes.
