RYAN GOSLING SHARES THE HILARIOUS STORY OF HOW HIS DAUGHTERS INSPIRED HIM TO PLAY KEN
The anticipation for the upcoming “Barbie” movie this summer is huge, and it’s easy to see why. It’s guaranteed to be light-hearted and funny (because Barbie) but with an introspective, meta twist (because of director Greta Gerwig). With Ryan Gosling starring as Ken, you already know you’re getting the perfect portrayal—and if you’re wondering what exactly that means, Ryan Gosling is more than happy to tell you.
In a new interview with GQ, Gosling shares his thoughts about playing Ken and how being a dad changed his whole outlook on life and work. He also shares, tongue-in-cheek, that it was his daughters’ complete and utter ambivalence for their Ken doll that inspired him to take the role.
“I did see him, like, face down in the mud outside one day, next to a squished lemon,” Gosling says, “and it was like, This guy’s story does need to be told, you know?”
Brilliant.
Gosling is basically renowned for being a talented Hollywood heartthrob (courtesy of his roles in “The Notebook” and “Crazy Stupid Love”), but before he was making millennial hearts swoon he starred on the ’90s revamp of “The Mickey Mouse Club” alongside Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera. Though he fully admits he wasn’t a musical “prodigy” like them, he had a lot of fun being part of the show. He tells GQ he tried to separate himself and his career from that role, but ultimately he’s grateful he did it—and he even ties it to Ken.
“There’s something about this Ken that really, I think, relates to that version of myself,” he explains. “Just, like, the guy that was putting on Hammer pants and dancing at the mall and smelling like Drakkar Noir and Aqua Net-ing bangs. I owe that kid a lot. I feel like I was very quick to distance myself from him when I started making more serious films. But the reality is that, like, he’s the reason I have everything I have.”
Earlier this year, a teaser trailer for “Barbie” was finally released and Gen Z wasn’t as thrilled as millennials were when they saw that Gosling was playing the role of Ken. Specifically that he’s “too old” to play him. Don’t worry, Gosling has the absolute best response to any Ken naysayers out there.
“I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with.” “It is funny,” he continues, “this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?”
He goes on, humoring all the haters who probably wanted, like, Timothy Chalamet or Harry Styles to play Barbie’s #1 hunk.
“If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.”
Honestly, this entire interview just makes it even more clear—if it weren’t clear as crystal already—that “Barbie” is going to be a must-see movie when it comes out next month.
2023-06-01T15:35:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd