Shawn Levy praises 'great muse' Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling is a "great muse" and "partner" to Shawn Levy.

The 45-year-old actor's creative partnership with the 58-year-old director grew as they worked on Star Wars: Starfighter together and not only did that lead to them teaming up again for the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) adventure Ghost Rider, the filmmaker is keen to do even more with the Barbie star in the future.

Shawn told People magazine: “Some actors are great muses, right? Some actors are just amazing on screen and you’re inspired telling that story.

“The thing about Gosling is he’s a great muse and he’s inspiring, but he’s also a great partner.

“He thinks like a full spectrum creative. He’s an artist. He’s an incredible actor, but he’s also thinking about the lighting, the fabric on the wall. He’s noticing everything...

“We had a really good time making this movie and it’s not just because we’re both Canadian, although that did lead to a certain baseline civility on set.

“Ryan loves delighting the audience and he’s done a lot of independent films, but he’s in a sweet spot where he is getting the opportunity to do big canvas storytelling and playing characters that sort of have all the colours, comedic and emotional.

“This collaboration felt really good to both of us. Trust developed. We found we brought each other to better work because of each other. So after we wrapped, we just started talking about what else we might do together.”

Ryan is an executive producer on Star Wars: Starfighter and Shawn confirmed he was very hands-on in the filmmaking process.

He said: “He was very much a fully proactive partner alongside me and Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of our crew in telling this story. So he’s both [for] views and collaborating."

Working together on Ghost Rider was an easy decision for the Deadpool and Wolverine filmmaker.

He admitted: “Literally six minutes into him telling me about it, I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. We’re doing that.’ We walked it into Kevin [Feige] and here we are."

The Ghost Rider series follows Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who sold his soul and became a supernatural agent of vengeance. The character was played by Nicolas Cage in 2007's Ghost Rider and 2011 sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, with Ryan's partner Eva Mendes playing Roxane Simpson in the first film.

Marvel boss Kevin Feige previously admitted he would "love" to work with Ryan.

Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con about Ryan's Marvel pitch in 2022, Feige said: "Hey man, if Ryan wants to be Ghost Rider...

"Gosling's unbelievable. Ryan is amazing... I'd love to find a place for him in the MCU. He's dressed up as Ken on Venice Beach and gets more press than giant movies coming out that weekend. It's amazing."

Ryan is rumoured to have been courted by the MCU to play the superhero Nova but he previously shut down the suggestions.

He said: "I don't know anything about Nova, if that's what you're going to ask me."