Ryan Gosling finds it "harder and harder" to talk about his new movie ‘Blade Runner 2049’ because of the suffering in America.
The 36-year-old actor admits it is strange to be promoting his film at a time when the US has been left in turmoil thanks to the impact of devastating hurricanes, and the tragic shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday (01.10.17) – which saw 59 people killed and hundreds injured – but understands why people also need to focus on lighter subjects.
Speaking to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday (03.10.17) – a day after the presenter gave a heartfelt monologue about the mass killing in his home city – Ryan said: "I really appreciate what you said the other night about wanting to come out and tell jokes and be light, but it is getting harder and harder to do that.
"You think about all the, so many people suffering right now and all the victims of all these hurricanes and obviously this shooting and the earthquakes.
"It’s strange to be out talking about a film. I can’t imagine how you must feel like being from Las Vegas."
The pair then traded stories about time in Las Vegas, with the host admitting he hadn’t realised what an "interesting" place it was until he moved away.
He said: "I never realised it was an interesting place to be from until I moved away from there and people said, ‘Wow, what an interesting place to be from.’ "
The 49-year-old presenter insisted he had largely had a normal childhood, but with few exceptions.
He explained: "Instead of 9:00 to 5:00, your mom or dad might work midnight to 8:00 a.m."
Jimmy was reduced to tears on his show on Monday (02.10.17) as he called for tighter gun control laws in the wake of gunman Stephen Paddock opening fire with an arsenal of weapons.
He said: "It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to throw up or give up.
"It’s too much to even process – all these devastated families who now have to live with this pain forever because one person with a violent and insane voice in his head managed to stockpile a collection of high-powered rifles and use them to shoot people.
"There are a lot of things we can do about it … but we don’t, which is interesting, because when someone with a beard attacks us, we tap phones, we invoke travel plans, we build walls, we take every possible precaution to make it doesn’t happen again.
"But when an American fires a gun and kills other Americans, then there’s nothing we can do about that."
Jimmy admitted it wasn’t ideal to address such important issues on his show, but, like Ryan, he found it hard to ignore.
The chat show host explained: "I want this to be a comedy show.
"I hate talking about things like this. I just want to laugh at things every night, but it seems to be becoming increasingly difficult lately. It feels like someone has opened a window into hell.
"And what I’m talking about tonight isn’t about gun control – it’s about common sense."
Ryan Gosling’s promotional struggle
