ryan gosling

The iconic Dorset beach featured in one of the most emotional scenes in Ryan Gosling’s new film, and fans are now visiting the picturesque Jurassic Coast location for spring walks

One of the most iconic coastal spots was recently featured in Ryan Gosling’s latest film, Project Hail Mary, and the good news is it’s located right here in the UK for those who want to visit.

There’s always a thrill when you recognise a familiar location in a film or TV programme, whether it’s a documentary or the backdrop for a fictional tale. While the UK serves as a popular setting for numerous blockbuster films and television series, one of this year’s biggest cinema releases actually filmed one of its most memorable scenes in the UK – and it’s accessible to visit right now as a stunning walking destination.

That’s precisely what one London-based couple decided to do, bringing their dog, Presto, along to the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset to see the Project Hail Mary filming location after recently watching the film at the cinema.

“Cried at the cinema at this beach so we went in real life,” they captioned their video, before sharing footage from their day trip adventure.

Without giving away any spoilers, the beach serves as a significant location for one of the film’s characters, with several of the more poignant scenes captured here, making it particularly meaningful for fans to experience. That said, the breathtaking views alone make the journey worthwhile.

Durdle Door stands as one of Dorset’s most photographed and iconic landmarks. Situated on the Lulworth Estate in south Dorset, it forms part of the stunning Jurassic Coast.

The coastline holds such exceptional geological significance on the world stage that UNESCO designated it as England’s first natural World Heritage Site in 2001, placing it alongside iconic natural treasures such as America’s Grand Canyon and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The stunning natural limestone arch was created when powerful waves eroded the rock and carved a hole through its centre. The name Durdle comes from the old English word ‘thirl’, meaning to pierce, bore or drill.

The film also features the neighbouring Man O’ War Beach, which visitors can normally reach via a footpath. However, the pair revealed that during their late March visit, storm damage had swept away the steps leading down to this beach, rendering it currently inaccessible.

Still, they weren’t bothered, as they were able to take in the spectacular views from the clifftops overlooking the beach.

How do you get to the Jurassic Coast? If you’re travelling by car, you can park at the sizeable car park reached through Durdle Door Holiday Park. From there, it’s a 15-minute walk down a steep path to the steps above the beach.

For those without a car, the iconic landmark is also reachable by bus, with a brief journey from Wool in Dorset taking you straight to the beaches.

The London pair weren’t alone in their admiration for the landmark, as numerous others quickly flooded the comment section to share their own visits.

“Went back in 2022 and loved it, need to go back again now that I saw it in the film,” one person wrote. Someone else added: “I wish I hadn’t seen that this was in the movie before we saw it but it was special seeing it with my boys who I took there in 2022.”

The birthday surprise was not subtle.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling showed up together in public Thursday evening for the first time in more than a decade, with Gosling enlisting “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” host for help in surprising his longtime partner for her 52nd birthday.

Gosling was on the show to promote his upcoming film, “Project Hail Mary,” in which he plays a high school teacher tasked with saving the world. So he asked Fallon to arrange for an audience full of — you guessed it — high school teachers. Because Mendes absolutely loves teachers, he said.

And then there was the request that they surprise Mendes by singing “Happy Birthday” when she came out on stage. It was unclear whether Gosling also ordered up the marching band that played backup, but Fallon wound up crediting him for the whole deal, which we assume included the, um, confetti cannon.

So back to Gosling, who along with Mendes is very private about their relationship and hasn’t been seen at a public event with her (His partner? His wife? Who knows, who cares) since they promoted their 2013 movie “The Place Beyond the Pines.”

He talked about the movie, of course, sharing some funny video from a promotional spot he recorded.

“This was crazy,” the “Crazy, Stupid, Love” actor told Fallon and the “Tonight Show” audience. “I swear, this is not a paid ad. I swear this happened. This was not planned. I had to do a little thing with Alexa, where I just was supposed to ask her facts about the movie. … And this is what happened. This is what she said, I swear.”

In the video, Gosling quizzed Alexa about why people should see the movie in theaters instead of waiting for it to stream at home.

“Because the Imax visuals are absolutely stunning,” Alexa said. But it was what she said next that warmed Gosling’s heart.

“Plus, Eva Mendes herself called it a masterpiece that brings back the magic of the big screen experience that you just can’t get the full impact of on your couch at home,” Alexa said.

“That Eva Mendes is great, isn’t she?” Gosling said in his trademark slight-smirk delivery.

“Absolutely. She’s got this incredible range that people don’t always give her credit for” — at this point Gosling blurted an enthusiastic “Thank you!” — “from her breakthrough in ‘Training Day’ to that beautiful performance in ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ with Ryan Gosling, she brings this authentic vulnerability to every role.”

At this point, Gosling kissed Alexa, who was made out of red plastic and had a “Project Hail Mary” image emblazoned on her speaker.

“Plus, she’s been smart about stepping back from acting to focus on family,” Alexa continued, “which shows she’s got her priorities straight.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Gosling, who’s been with Mendes since 2011 and welcomed two daughters with her. Whether they are officially married is, of course, a mystery. And he did kiss Alexa, which could complicate things. That Alexa, she’s a hustler.

But married or not, Gosling was 100% committed to surprising Mendes on her 52nd trip around the sun. Turns out she was backstage at the show, thinking she was going to get the opportunity to tell the audience full of teachers how much she appreciated what they do every day. So someone brought her to the set, where Gosling greeted her with a “Hi, sweetheart” and held her hand as he pulled her to center stage.

Mendes, apparently thinking her appearance wouldn’t be part of the show, immediately burst into a paean to teaching, telling the educators who were assembled, “I love teachers so much, you guys. We owe so much to you guys. You’re so underpaid and you’re so — I just — thank you so much. I had so many amazing teachers.”

Then she turned to Fallon and said, “You’ll cut all this, right?” Seems she hadn’t put two and two together when Gosling pointed her toward the mark on the floor where she was supposed to stand for the cameras.

Nope, the host said. We love this.

So Mendes went on. “I had so many amazing teachers mentor me,” she said, speaking rapidly and enthusiastically, “and I just want to say thank you to you guys.”

But Fallon reminded her that this was her day — her birthday. And Gosling pointed out that among the educators there were some band directors.

“Yes, we have band directors from North Bergen High School,” Fallon announced. “Ladies and gentlemen, here to play ‘Happy Birthday’ to Eva Mendes, we have the North Bergen High School marching band.”

And there they were, a dozen or two members of that marching band, in full regalia, with two people holding a “Happy Birthday Eva!” banner and the rest blasting out the familiar tune. The entire audience joined in serenading the woman of the hour as they clapped along. Mendes clapped along as well.

As a finale, yup, confetti blasted out over those onstage. And Fallon gave credit where it was due.

“That’s all him,” he said, indicating Gosling, which prompted Mendes to grab her beau’s face and start whispering into his ear. And that’s the most fans are likely to see the twosome behaving like a twosome in public, at least until maybe 2039 or so. Maybe for her 65th birthday. Or her 70th. Or perhaps their AI holograms will one day reveal whether they said “I do.”

By the way, all those teachers were the ones who got the birthday gift last night. Fallon announced they would be going to a special screening of “Project Hail Mary” after the taping, and the teachers’ delight was palpable.

Very nice, “Tonight Show.” You and Ryan Gosling made some people very happy Thursday. Including one Eva Mendes.

“Project Hail Mary” hits theaters March 20.

They knew he was going to break. And they leaned into it.

That’s the only explanation for this week’s Ryan Gosling-hosted episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which at times felt more like an inside cast joke than a typical “SNL” episode. But maybe it’s the “Project Hail Mary” actor’s innate charm or that there were genuine laughs to be mined from Gosling breaking character again and again throughout the show (as he did just two years ago) that made it somehow work.

Gosling kept his cool for the most part in a well-executed monologue that focused on next week’s host and musical guest Harry Styles, who was sitting in the front row and inadvertently driving Gosling to distraction with his coolness. But after that, it was a short trip to Giggle Town as Gosling tried valiantly to play a flamboyantly dressed disruptor at a wedding who keeps tapping his glasses so the bride and groom (and others) will kiss.

In a fantasy sketch, he played one of three very dumb cyclops who can’t solve easy riddles, much to the dismay of two maidens — one of them, the usually unflappable Ashley Padilla, caught the giggles from Gosling and couldn’t stop laughing. Padilla and Gosling were a teacher and principal in another sketch reading passed notes out loud that, according to text on screen, were swapped out since rehearsal, causing both to crack up uncontrollably. It was the first “SNL” sketch in a long time, not counting “Weekend Update,” that felt like a prank on the performers.

Gosling stayed in character for the most part as an annoyed hotel patron who’s been overcharged for visits from the “Goo Goo Man.” And he had less opportunity to lose his cool in some pre-taped sketches, one a violent and sad Willy Wonka parody, the other about a sentient and weird treatment for psoriasis, “Otezla.”

Whether you enjoyed the episode would depend a lot on your tolerance for “SNL” performers breaking character and causing cast members to do the same. Gosling may be one of the few hosts who can get away with it since by this point, it’s his fourth time hosting and it’s completely expected.

The show concluded with “Lies,” a video sketch from Please Don’t Destroy’s Martin Herlihy in which, among other things, Herlihy stole Colin Jost’s identity by wearing a giant head modeled after the “Weekend Update” host.

Musical guests Gorillaz performed their 25-year-old hit “Clint Eastwood” with Del the Funky Homosapien and new song “The Moon Cave” with Asha Puthli, Anoushka Shankar and Black Thought. A memorial card before the goodbyes honored Sandy Wernick, Adam Sandler’s longtime manager, who died this week.

Jost returned as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was introduced doing a keg stand (but full of Sprite, he claimed), before launching into an explainer about the conflict in Iran. “We’re treating Iran like the breathalizer in my car and blowing it the hell up!” he said. He paraphrased Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” (“Cut Iran into pieces!”) and described the U.S. in Iran as not a war but a “situationship” where if the United States gets bored, it will go hook up with Cuba next. After shouting out “Grand Theft Auto,” Megan Fox’s return to Instagram and Quagmire from “Family Guy,” Hegseth introduced former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, whom he said was “reassigned under the bus.” Noem (Padilla) said she wasn’t fired, she self-deported and will soon be working out of a WeWork outside of Denver. “As I told my plastic surgeon, the work is never done,” she said, “you miss 100% of the dogs you don’t shoot.” It must be said: it was a relief to have a cold open that didn’t feature a rambling President Trump.

In his monologue, Gosling began going through the motions of singing a song about Earth (with a planetary model hanging down as a visual) before getting distracted by pop star Harry Styles in the front row. Styles, next week’s “SNL” host, said he just wanted to get a feel for it. Before long, smitten cast members, including Sarah Sherman and a cameraman wearing an I (Heart) Harry shirt who kept focusing on Styles, proved too much for Gosling, who called off a big song and dance number featuring most of the cast in silver space attire. Gosling started to sing “Sign of the Times” which is featured in his film “Project Hail Mary” before realizing it’s a Harry Styles song. “I’m just Ken!” Gosling flailed. Cast members consoled him, including a kiss on the cheek from Mikey Day that sent Gosling into a spontaneous giggle attack. Gosling thanked Kenan Thompson for coming out to support him. “We just came to get a better look at Harry,” Thompson replied.

Best sketch of the night: Riddle me this, why are these cyclops so dumb?

In a sketch based on a fictional book, “The Treasure of Darlor,” three cyclops led by Gosling must get past two maidens (Padilla and Veronika Slowikowska) in order to get the key to a cave that will grant them, presumably, the treasure of the book’s title. But the cyclops can’t solve the simplest of riddles and the increasingly exasperated maidens, who’ll be free once a riddle is solved, can’t get them to stop approaching the cave or from making terrible guesses. It’s hard to tell how far off script the sketch went once Gosling and Padilla began breaking character, but the characters are so silly and dumb that precision actually doesn’t matter too much and the result is a ramshackle hilarity as they keep going in semantic circles.

Also good: No notes. Seriously, no more notes, please

Maybe this was funnier for those on stage than for those watching at home, but the audacity of a sketch in which material is swapped out before air time (as we’re told in an on-screen warning) to unaware cast members and the host, breathed life into what would have otherwise been a pretty routine sketch about a teacher (Padilla) and a principal (Gosling) trying to discipline unruly students. Padilla almost never breaks in sketches; she’s a rock-solid performer, but without any advance knowledge of the jokes in notes she had to read out loud, she simply crumbled. Gosling never had a chance. The jokes in the notes are not all great, but they’re enough to have their intended effect on the two performers. The laughing becomes infectious.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Pastor Update was really itemizing those backstage snacks

The next best thing we might get to a new “What Up With That?” sketch might be Thompson as Pastor Update, the official pastor to “Weekend Update” who was joined by his bandleader Teddy (James Austin Johnson). The two brought some soulful rumination on catered snacks and beautiful women with big foreheads. When Michael Che asked for something a little more uplifting, Pastor Update instead went after Che’s online habits, praying he “gets off his laptop looking at them nasty pictures on the computer.” The laptop, he sang, has been infected with so many nasty viruses it sounds like a lawnmower starting up.