“La La Hand”: Ryan Gosling Was Haunted For 10 Years By One Thing - And Now It's Fixed
Stars, they're just like us. They look at old photos of themselves and are haunted by the one silly pose that looked so great in the moment, but is utterly ridiculous in hindsight. Such is the case with Ryan Gosling, who's now voiced on multiple occasions that he's still haunted by the pose he struck for the La La Land (2016) poster. Gosling took to The Wall Street Journal Magazine to tell us exactly what his thought process was during that moment and why he'd like a do-over.
During Project Hail Mary (2026) press, Gosling also recreated the moment hilariously with Rocky, audibly voicing, "How's my hand?" to the person behind the camera. It's endearing, really. However, on the tenth anniversary of La La Land, Lionsgate has given Gosling a small little gift—a chance to rewrite his mistake. Or, Photoshop in this case.
The film holds up well after all these years, delivering something lovely for fans of musicals, romance, and old Hollywood glamour. Now available for rent or purchase on various platforms such as Apple TV and Prime Video, let's break down why the "La La Hand" (a term the actor coined himself) still haunts Gosling and how Lionsgate recently fixed it for him.
What Is ‘La La Land’?
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, La La Land was a mass hit that garnered fourteen Academy Award nominations, with six wins, including Chazelle for Best Director and Emma Stone for Best Actress. As a love letter to Hollywood and the art of filmmaking alongside music, La La Land gets a lot of flak, but it's ultimately a gorgeously entertaining movie that understands just how grueling the industry can be amidst the glitz and glamour. How draining and heartbreaking when the sacrifices people have to make sometimes come in the form of losing love.
It's a well-choreographed, beautifully scored story that takes us through critical places in Los Angeles—like the Warner Brothers lot and the iconic Griffith Observatory—all while Gosling's Sebastian and Stone's Mia fall in love while sharing their dreams of becoming a renowned jazz pianist and an actress, respectively. The chemistry between Gosling and Stone is a large part of the film's appeal, allowing their every move to feel like an expertly choreographed dance you can't look away from. This includes heartfelt moments where all they do is sit together and talk because there's an artistry in how they both play their characters that's a large part of what makes the story so moving.
As a romance fan, I want a happy ending more than anything. Yet films like La La Land still hold a mass appeal because while they don't end with the kind of joy we'd like, the bittersweet farewell still does plenty to showcase the significance they've both had on each other. It's a lot like Roman Holiday (1953) in that regard, with the last look in the movie reminding me so much of the final moments of the hauntingly breathtaking story of Princess Ann and Joe Bradley.
What Is the Problem With the Poster?
Gosling has hilariously and affectionately brought up his regrets regarding the La La Land poster in a few interviews now, and once he's pointed it out, it's impossible not to see it, even if many people might not have noticed it the first time. As he explains in the interview with WSJ Style, in the movie, there's a sequence where he and Stone dance outdoors while the Los Angeles city lights twinkle behind them, but Gosling was unaware that this moment would also be used in the poster. He notes that he thought the lowered hand gesture would look a lot cooler despite the fact that people on set told him keeping it straight was the more classic move.
Because the poster is essentially a high-quality screen grab from that scene—and since the dance number is a moment that simultaneously showcases much of the story's vibes—Gosling's hand now lives forever as the face of the movie. But sometimes, when you're lucky enough, you get to fix those pesky mistakes, even though it's frankly adorable.
How Did Lionsgate Fix the Problem?
2026 marks the 10th anniversary of La La Land, and in an exclusive screening event held at the Griffith Observatory, the film's dance choreographer Mandy Moore unveiled the new poster, which revealed that Ryan Gosling's hand pose is now fixed. Interestingly, people on social media weren't that happy about it, voicing that the colors are also muted in the new version, but hey, at least Gosling can have some peace now. But really, the internet is a perpetual time capsule, so unfortunately the original poster can never be wiped from the ethers or our memories.
