When Damien Chazelle’s La La Land was released in December 2016, it was hailed as a modern holiday masterpiece. The film—starring the incomparable duo of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone—captured the hearts of millions with its neon-soaked dreamscapes and nostalgic jazz. However, as the film celebrates its legacy in late 2025, Ryan Gosling has once again “exposed” the less-than-glamorous reality of becoming a movie musical icon. While the world saw effortless gliding across the Griffith Park observatory, Gosling recently humorously recounted that the rehearsals were more of a “physical hazard” than a romantic fantasy.
A “Mind Game” of Stumbled Steps
Despite their undeniable chemistry, neither Ryan nor Emma were professional dancers before the film. Choreographer Mandy Moore put the pair through an intensive four-month “boot camp.” Gosling revealed that to achieve the dazzling six-minute single-take of “A Lovely Night,” he and Emma “stumbled and stepped on each other’s feet hundreds of times.” Emma Stone similarly confessed on The Graham Norton Show that the process was a “mind game,” as they were kept apart for solo lessons for months before rehearsing together.
“I thought he was the best dancer of all time and I was failing miserably,” Emma joked. “Then they put us together, and I realized we were both just struggling to survive.”
The “Haunting” Hand Gesture
Even in 2024 and 2025, the film continues to follow Gosling. In a viral 2024 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ryan admitted there is one detail from that iconic dance that still “haunts” him: his hand placement on the movie’s official poster.
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“La La Hand”: Gosling admits he stubbornly ignored advice to point his hand skyward, opting for a flat hand he thought looked “cooler.”
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“Hamburger Hands”: He jokingly referred to his mistake as “hamburger hands”—a term used by dancers for awkward hand positions—and noted that seeing it on posters for nearly a decade has been his one “holiday regret.”
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The Fix: In May 2024, the official La La Land social media account playfully “fixed” the poster with Photoshop to finally give Gosling the “cool” hand position he wanted.
The Christmas Gift of “Survival”
Because La La Land is so deeply intertwined with the Christmas season—beginning on Christmas Eve—Gosling often associates the film’s release with holiday memories. He famously joked that the greatest “Christmas gift” that year wasn’t the record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, but the fact that he and Emma “survived” the choreography without any broken bones. The film’s success was staggering, grossing over $472 million and becoming the first film to win 7 Golden Globes.
Friends Beyond the Footlights
The “painful truth” of their bruised shins and stepped-on toes only served to deepen one of Hollywood’s most authentic friendships. Behind the glamour of the snowflake-decorated premieres was a bond built on the shared struggle of trying to make a “musical for people who don’t like musicals.” As audiences revisit La La Land this Christmas 2025, the film stands as a reminder that true magic doesn’t come from perfection—it comes from the “madness” of two best friends willing to trip over each other until they eventually fly.