Carey Mulligan Talks Falling in Love With Ryan Gosling at Comic-Con

"Rough," was how she described the task at hand in their new movie, Drive; plus, director Nicolas Winding Refn reveals his next project

Sure, he made his director cry, but Ryan Gosling can't be too terrible, right?

"My job in this film was to fall in love with Ryan Gosling—rough," Carey Mulligan said to much laughter at the Drive portion of Film District's 2011 Comic-Con panel.

"He was amazing, such a nice guy," the adorable actres gushed. "He's so sweet."

And apparently a bit of a method man...

"He spent months before the film knowing everything there was to know about cars. He built his own car for the film...and [he learned] stunt driving! He was a machine. Everyone loved him, he was a dream, he was amazing."

But apparently this film—about a stuntman who does a little driving for criminals on the side and ends up falling for a married mom whose convict hubby is in too deep with some real bad dudes—almost didn't get made, thanks to a "bad blind date" between Gosling and director Nicolas Winding Refn.

The Danish filmmaker, who ultimately won the top director's prize at the Cannes Film Festival for Drive, recalled how he took too many "American drugs" to help his flu before his first meeting with the Blue Valentine star, whom he credits for getting the film made in the first place. "I was high as a kite. Literally, I couldn't remember anything."

And his neck was sore, so he couldn't even turn to look directly at Gosling during dinner, Refn told the Hall H audience.

"It was like a blind date in real life; nobody was going to get f--ked tonight," he continued. "We had simply no connection because I was so out of it, so stoned," he continued. "I was reacting slowly, and Ryan would be like, 'Who the f--k is he, this European guy?'"

Then Refn, who doesn't drive in L.A., asked Gosling if he would take him home. Although the actor wondered why Refn couldn't take a cab, he agreed. On the way back to Refn's place, they sat in silence, until, the director said, REO Speedwagon came on and "I literally start to cry...and then I start singing the song!"

Finally, clarity arrived, and Refn told Gosling that Drive is "about a man who drives around at night listening to pop music, and that's his emotional release." Gosling dug it, so they made the movie.

"That was the great encounter between us that led to a very passionate and strange relationship," Refn concluded.

When later asked how he felt about working with Gosling, costar Ron Perlman replied, "I got nothing."