Gonzaga Freshman Doubles for Gosling

Gonzaga freshman Kyle Breunling

Gonzaga freshman Kyle Breunling is headed for an unusual summer job - performing as a double for Ryan Gosling in a movie about Gonzaga's Cinderella '98-'99 run through the NCAA basketball tournament.

The connection came through Breunling's sister Kendra, a doctoral candidate in USC's physical therapy program. One of the patients at her clinic was Channy Adams, a casting director for Nuvo Productions who recalled a mention of her brother's similarity to the famous actor.

"It's uncanny, really," said Adams. "The fact that he's actually a student at the school. We don't often get this lucky." Adams added that doubles are generally hired for similarities of physique, but that the facial similarity will mean less work in the editing room.

The real Ryan Gosling

"Our main challenge is that Ryan is not really familiar with basketball," said Adams. "Kyle wasn't a basketball player, either, but he played football, so he's got an athletic look."

"This is so sweet," said Kendra Breunling. "He's been catching grief for looking like (Gosling) for years. It's so great that it paid off like this."

"I'm definitely no actor," said Kyle Breunling. "But they're not really asking me to act. I think I'll just take it as a great chance to see the inner workings of a movie production."

Gosling is portraying Casey Calvary, the star of the '98-'99 team that made a surprising run to the Elite Eight and established Gonzaga as a basketball power. Kevin Costner will play the coach, Dan Monson. Shooting begins in June, with a planned release for March 2017.

-- Dorothy Kim