--- --- # Watch Ryan Gosling Thank Debbie Reynolds: 'She Was an Inspiration'  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 3, 2017 5:16 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 3, 2017 5:16 PM UTC Singer, dancer, and [_La La Land_ actor Ryan Gosling](http://time.com/4587682/la-la-land-review/?iid=sr-link6) took a moment at Monday night’s Palm Springs International Film Festival to honor the late Debbie Reynolds, a musical star herself who notably made her breakout appearance in 1952’s _Singin’ in the Rain_ as the [iconic ingenue Kathy Selden](http://time.com/4619477/debbie-reynolds-gene-kelly-singin-in-the-rain/?iid=sr-link1). “I wish I could have said this in person, but I’d like to thank [Debbie Reynolds](http://time.com/4619301/debbie-reynolds-death-celebrities-react/?iid=sr-link7) for her wonderful career,” Gosling said during his acceptance speech [for the Vanguard Award](http://www.etonline.com/news/206260%5Fryan%5Fgosling%5Fthanks%5Fdebbie%5Freynolds/), given to the film at the festival. “She was an inspiration for us every day—we watched _Singin’ in the Rain_ for inspiration every day, and she truly was an unparalleled talent, so thank you to her for all that inspiration.” The [awards season frontrunner](http://time.com/4594589/la-la-land-opening-scene-musical-another-day-of-sun/?iid=sr-link2) _La La Land_ certainly does take many of its cues from the grand old-school movie musical tradition, even going so far as to [call back to specific moments](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/12/13/la%5Fla%5Fland%5Fs%5Fmany%5Freferences%5Fto%5Fclassic%5Fmovies%5Ffrom%5Fsingin%5Fin%5Fthe%5Frain%5Fto.html) from _Singin’ in the Rain_ itself, like Gosling’s sly swing around a lamp post. Reynolds [passed away](http://time.com/4619301/debbie-reynolds-death-celebrities-react/?iid=sr-link7) on Thursday at the age of 84, a day after her daughter, legendary _Star Wars_ [princess Carrie Fisher](http://time.com/4618461/carrie-fisher-dead-kickass-princess/?iid=sr-link5), also passed. Watch the tribute below. > [](https://twitter.com/MrScottEddy/status/816146071353053184) Ryan Gosling Was Inspired by the Late Debbie Reynolds ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4620620/ryan-gosling-on-debbie-reynolds/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4620620/ryan-gosling-on-debbie-reynolds/"},"headline":"Watch Ryan Gosling Thank Debbie Reynolds: 'She Was an Inspiration'","datePublished":"2017-01-03T17:16:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:51.117Z","description":"\"She was an unparalleled talent\"","url":"https://time.com/4620620/ryan-gosling-on-debbie-reynolds/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4620620/ryan-gosling-on-debbie-reynolds/","name":"Watch Ryan Gosling Thank Debbie Reynolds: 'She Was an Inspiration'"}}]}] ```