Ryan Gosling on Leaving Canada for Hollywood and the Making of 'La La Land'

— -- Actor Ryan Gosling discussed his upcoming musical "La La Land," and his own personal experience of moving to Los Angeles to follow his dreams in an interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today.

"You know, it's not easy to leave your hometown and your family and your support system and come out to Los Angeles to, to, pursue a dream where the odds are not in your favor," Gosling said.

Gosling's personal experience of moving from Cornwall, Ontario, to L.A. may have lent itself to his ability to star as Sebastian in the upcoming film "La La Land." The romantic musical follows Sebastian, a struggling musician following his dreams, as he meets an aspiring actress, Mia, played by Emma Stone.

"He's experienced so much failure and rejection that he's on the verge of becoming a very bitter and angry person," Gosling said of his character in the movie. "That's the worst time to meet a potential love interest. But that's exactly when he meets her."

Gosling added that the two characters "were just kind of regular people who were experiencing this heightened feeling of love."

"And their only way they could express it to one another was to sing and dance," he said.

Gosling joked that their dance routines, which may come across as effortless in the movie, were actually the results of months of rehearsals.

The actor added that prior to this film, he had very little dance experience, saying that "'90s hip-hop just doesn't seem to translate into soft shoe."

In addition to rehearsing dozens of new dance moves, Gosling also said how he had to learn all of the music for the film.

"It's beautiful music, I have to say," Gosling said, adding that when he first heard the theme song for the film, he thought that writer-director Damien Chazelle, "really does have a chance at making something special here."

"And then, I had to play that piece of music for six months for hours every day," Gosling added. "I should be sick of it. But I'm not. So, I think it's a testament to how good it is."

Gosling said that he saw a screening of "La La Land" when he was in Toronto, "it casts the, some kind of spell on people," Gosling said, adding that it was a very special experience to be able to watch the movie while he was in his native Canada.

"It was nice to be home," he said. "I left Canada to come to Hollywood to make movies. So, it was nice to, to be able to come back, having made something like this. But it was also strange. People were sort of, just light, and dancing in the, the streets as I drove away."

"La La Land" will hit theaters December 9.