I don't remember what I was doing in 1993, but I'm fairly certain I wasn't spending hours on end rotting my noggin watching the uncomfortably sexualized gyrations of fellow (and conspicuously sans-mousey-ears) 13-year-olds on The Mickey Mouse Club. (Perhaps due to the fact that we didn't have cable.) No, my particular noggin-rot came at the hands of Animaniacs and Fresh Prince, thank you very much. Thus, count me among the confounded masses who were floored to learn Gosling was a former Mousketeer. Yep, this picture is who you think it is (Gosling is bottom left). 2006 Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling, wiggling all serious-like in his baggy duds alongside Timberlake and J.C. Chasez an' layin' it down smooth like Tevin Campbell. Oh, what might have been. Somewhere, in some parallel universe, there's an unspeakable alternate reality that I hate worse than hell, and I thank God in Heaven that I don't have to glimpse it.

All shuddering aside, sometimes we win 'em: The Gos has loosed himself from Disney purgatory (including a forgettable debut in Remember the Titans) to become arguably our best and most intriguing young actor. (Hold on, I know what you're going to say.) With all this rabid to-do over Shia, another refugee from the House of Mouse (he of Holes and (the admittedly worthy) Disney Channel kid-com Even Stevens) who, with the success of Disturbia and the formidable aggregate hype of Transformers and Indy 4 swirling about his head, not to mention his impressive turn in the blistering A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, is shaping up to be the undisputed "It Fella" of the summer season, and poised to become a household name (if a tough-to-spell one). And rightly so: The kid is immensely, immensely talented, and I've been impressed with him from the first. But LaBeouf's path and Gosling's, so far, are distinct.

To wit: Fracture. The film, unfortunately, is as overwrought as Gosling's manner is understated -- Fracture, indeed, is about as subtle as a mutant hooker from Total Recall. The standout scene, though, is an early (and unfortunately rare) bit of sublime interplay between the erstwhile Mouseketeer and his foil, Sir Anthony Hopkins. Such auspicious casting seems markedly akin, if not quite to the passing of a torch, then at least to a sense that Gosling is being "made," in the Goodfellas sense. It's a stamp of approval, like Redford opposite Pitt in (boring-ass) Spy Game, or the "cool-freshman-hanging-with-the-seniors" vibe you get from Matt Damon, Pitt, and Clooney in the Ocean's remakes. Dig?

To be fair, this comparison isn't: Gosling's got half-a-decade-plus on Shia, and they're different actors. Gosling, with a slew of roles, has displayed a versatility and daring that LaBeouf, still budding, hasn't quite attempted yet, but which I fully believe is there. Still, for now, things are as they are. LaBeouf is primed for superstardom, true. Gosling, meanwhile, is quietly being groomed as the next great and respected Actor.

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