'The Lovely Bones' director breaks silence on Ryan Gosling's recasting

Peter Jackson is setting the record straight on Ryan Gosling’s recasting in 2009’s The Lovely Bones.

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar-winning director addressed years of speculation surrounding the Project Hail Mary actor’s claim that he was dropped from the film after gaining 60 pounds for the role, insisting the fault was never Gosling’s.

Jackson told journalist Didier Allouch that recasting decisions ultimately fall on filmmakers, not actors. “Anytime we recast an actor, it's actually our fault because we didn't get the casting right and we cast the wrong person for a role. It's not because they did anything wrong.”

The comments revisit Gosling’s 2010 revelation to The Hollywood Reporter, where he said he and Jackson had “a different idea” of how the grieving father at the centre of The Lovely Bones should physically appear. The Notebook star admitted he “got it wrong” after intentionally gaining weight for the role, which eventually went to Mark Wahlberg.

Jackson was quick to praise Gosling, adding, “Ryan is a fantastic actor, as we know… occasionally we make our own mistakes.”

The 2009 adaptation of Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel starred Saoirse Ronan, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon.

Ronan later reflected on the switch during a 2024 interview, saying the split was “totally valid” and “not personal.”

“I think the reasons why they parted were totally valid,” she said. “It's like sometimes you're just not on the same page.”