Clooney vs. Gosling at the Golden Globes: A tale of the tape

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - George Clooney vs. Ryan Gosling ... it really is a matter of personal preference, isn't it? And maybe it's a generational thing, too.

Both actors are sexy and gorgeous, of course, but both also have chosen difficult film roles that intentionally play down their looks. Both ooze movie-star charisma but both have displayed versatility, as well.

And both will be competing in the category of best actor in a drama at the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15; nominations were announced Thursday morning. Clooney is up for "The Descendants," in which he plays a father struggling to raise his two daughters while his wife is in a coma; Gosling is up for "The Ides of March," in which he plays a cunning campaign strategist for a democratic presidential hopeful ... played by Clooney. (Gosling also received a nomination for best actor in a comedy for playing a ladies man in "Crazy, Stupid, Love.")

Perhaps a little tale of the tape can help us determine an early winner:

AGE: Clooney just turned 50 this year; Gosling is 31.

HEIGHT: Clooney is 5-foot-10; Gosling is 6-foot-1.

HOMETOWN: Clooney was born in Lexington, Ky.; Gosling grew up in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.

MOST OUT-THERE PERFORMANCE: Clooney showed his goofy side as a smooth-talking escaped convict in the Coen brothers' 2000 comedy "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Gosling fell in love with a life-sized doll named Bianca in 2007's "Lars and the Real Girl."

BRUSHES WITH OSCAR: Clooney packed on the pounds, grew a shaggy beard and became virtually unrecognizable to play a CIA operative in 2005's "Syriana," which earned him the Academy Award for best supporting actor. That same year, he also was nominated for directing and co-writing the TV news drama "Good Night, and Good Luck." Since then, he's earned two other best-actor nominations: for "Michael Clayton" (2007) and "Up in the Air" (2009). Gosling was a surprise nominee for 2006's "Half Nelson" — not because he was undeserving, far from it, but because it was such a small, little-known film. He played a middle-school teacher with a drug problem.

EMBARRASSING BEGINNINGS: Clooney rocked the mullet in the mid-'80s on the sitcom "The Facts of Life," where he played a handyman named George. Gosling was a member of "The Mickey Mouse Club" in the early 1990s, around the same time as Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

"SEXIEST MAN ALIVE" STATUS: Clooney has the rare distinction of winning the annual honor from People magazine twice: in 1997 and 2006. Gosling hasn't won — yet — but this year's winner, Bradley Cooper, has conceded that Gosling deserved the title more than he did.

ON-SCREEN ROMANCES: Clooney: Michelle Pfeiffer ("One Fine Day"); Jennifer Lopez ("Out of Sight"); Julia Roberts ("Ocean's Eleven" and "Ocean's Twelve"); Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Intolerable Cruelty"); Vera Farmiga ("Up in the Air"). Gosling: Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook"); Michelle Williams ("Blue Valentine") Emma Stone ("Crazy, Stupid, Love"), Carey Mulligan ("Drive"); an anatomically correct sex doll ("Lars and the Real Girl").

THE WINNER: A tie. While Clooney will probably win on Golden Globe night, Gosling is so hot these days he seems unstoppable.

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