The Insider.com

Seeing footage of Ryan Gosling, circa 1991, this morning got us waxing poetically for his younger days -- and, wouldn't you know it, that's when I stumbled upon the first time we ever interviewed him!

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VIDEO- Ryan Gosling's Pre-Fame Talent Show

The year was 1998 and a young Gosling was in training for his role on TV's Young Hercules when The Insider caught up with him in the rehearsal room.

VIDEO - Gosling's Drunken Christmas

A room that clearly provided the actor with excellent training for breaking up street fights and a proper foundation for the body we've come to lust after today.

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And even then, the actor was disarmingly affable about his future in the business. When asked what he thought Hercules could do for his career, the Oscar-nominated actor said, "I don't know what it will do for my career per se. It's just going to be wonderful. Whatever happens career wise, if I never work again, then I never work again."

I think we all know how that turned out.