section_path: Acting career/1993–1999: Career beginnings
section_name: 1993–1999: Career beginnings
paragraph_text: 1993–1999: Career beginnings
  
  In 1993, 12-year-old Gosling attended an open audition in Montreal for Disney Channel 's revival of The Mickey Mouse Club. After he successfully auditioned, he was given a two-year contract as a Mouseketeer and subsequently moved to Orlando, Florida to film the show. He has said he appeared on-screen infrequently because other children were considered more talented. Nonetheless, he has described the job as the greatest two years of his life. Fellow cast members on the show included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Keri Russell, and JC Chasez. Gosling has credited the experience with instilling in him "this great sense of focus." He was specifically close friends with Timberlake because they lived together for six months during the second year of the show. Timberlake's mother became Gosling's legal guardian after his own mother had to return to Canada for work reasons. Gosling has said that even though he and Timberlake talk infrequently, they are still supportive of each other.
  
  After the show ended in 1995, Gosling returned to Canada, where he continued to appear in family entertainment television series, including Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995) and Goosebumps (1996), and starred in Breaker High (1997–98) as Sean Hanlon. When he was 18, he moved to New Zealand to film the Fox Kids adventure series Young Hercules (1998–1999) as the title character. He later said that he initially enjoyed working on the series, but began to care too much about the show, so it was no longer fun for him. He wanted to spend more time sitting with and devising a character as well as play a variety of roles, so he chose to transition into film and not accept any more television work.
  
  In 1993, 12-year-old Gosling attended an open audition in Montreal for Disney Channel 's revival of The Mickey Mouse Club. After he successfully auditioned, he was given a two-year contract as a Mouseketeer and subsequently moved to Orlando, Florida to film the show. He has said he appeared on-screen infrequently because other children were considered more talented. Nonetheless, he has described the job as the greatest two years of his life. Fellow cast members on the show included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Keri Russell, and JC Chasez. Gosling has credited the experience with instilling in him "this great sense of focus." He was specifically close friends with Timberlake because they lived together for six months during the second year of the show. Timberlake's mother became Gosling's legal guardian after his own mother had to return to Canada for work reasons. Gosling has said that even though he and Timberlake talk infrequently, they are still supportive of each other.
  
  After the show ended in 1995, Gosling returned to Canada, where he continued to appear in family entertainment television series, including Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995) and Goosebumps (1996), and starred in Breaker High (1997–98) as Sean Hanlon. When he was 18, he moved to New Zealand to film the Fox Kids adventure series Young Hercules (1998–1999) as the title character. He later said that he initially enjoyed working on the series, but began to care too much about the show, so it was no longer fun for him. He wanted to spend more time sitting with and devising a character as well as play a variety of roles, so he chose to transition into film and not accept any more television work.