Now’s a good time to mention this wasn’t Ryan Gosling going on an ice cream bender for the hell of it.
This was purely an exercise in method acting and connecting with his character.
Seeing as ice cream just makes you more thirsty, it’s safe to assume that Gosling was pounding the pints of Haagen-Dazs as if they were unlimited Dasani water bottles on a hot day.
Adding 60 pounds of weight — as well as a beard — to his look, could have made him look like more of a dad than he would have at 26 years old.