Ryan Gosling likens directing to a 'marathon'

Ryan Gosling found directing a movie to be like a "marathon".

The 'Place Beyond the Pines' actor went behind the camera to helm 'Lost River' and he admits being on set was such a different experience to when he is acting.

He said: "It's cool to finally have it come out. All in all, it's taken three years to make, so that's very different from any experience I've ever had.

"When you're acting, you only spend a few months with something, so to have this amount of time is really like a marathon."

The movie is set in Detroit, a destination Ryan - who also wrote the film - chose because of his romanticised idea of the city, which he quickly discovered was very different to reality.

He explained to Look magazine: "I had a romantic idea of Detroit as a kid. It was the birthplace of the American dream.

"And then when I got there it was very different. Families trying to keep their homes while their neighbourhoods are being torn down around them.

"It's like the dream has become a nightmare. I wanted to make a film about that."