It shouldn’t have come as any surprise when Barbie director Greta Gerwig found her Ken in Canadian actor Ryan Gosling. While someone like Gosling is expected to look handsome playing Barbie’s leading man, fans didn’t know just how good as they created the Kenaissance filled, with online memes and glowing reviews. The 41-year-old actor was also surprised at people’s reactions to his Ken look and has a funny take on Ken in general.
You may remember the Ken doll as Barbie’s boyfriend who first made his debut in 1961 wearing only a swimsuit. On The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, the Gray Man star spoke about how surprised he was that the fans had such a huge reaction to his Ken look and what he really thinks about the doll the character is based off of.
I was surprised how, you know, some people were kind of clutching their pearls about my Ken, as though they ever thought about Ken for a second before this. They never played with Ken. Nobody plays with Ken, man. Did you play with Ken?
Maybe Ken wasn’t the go-to doll many people played with, but the fans all came together to share their responses on social media to those ripped abs and platinum blonde hair Ryan Gosling was rocking. He told Jimmy Fallon that after being approached by Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig to play Ken, he thought the script for the new comedy was the best script he’s ever read. Before giving the Oscar-nominated director an answer, he went out to his backyard and found a Ken doll face down on the ground next to a squashed lemon. Taking that as a sign, he texted Gerwig saying, “I will be your Ken for his story must be told.”
The plot details have not come out yet about Barbie, but Gosling has said we could expect Ken to be homeless and unemployed. But have no fear as these are just some of the character traits Ken has and to expect the movie to be "funny and awesome." It will be interesting to see what else Ryan Gosling has in store for Ken as he felt his doll counterpart was not the doll everyone wanted to play with.
He’s an accessory and not even one of the cool ones.
Well, the Oscar-nominated actor has been feeling plenty of love from his adoring fans. After breaking the internet with his new look, Gosling felt like it was only a matter of time before this happened as he said the internet has been trying to break him for years. His lady love, Eva Mendez, helped grow this fandom by coining the term “the Kenaissance” and creating the hashtag #ThatsmyKen. While we all know what the La La Land actor will look like for the Barbie movie, the suspense couldn’t be more overwhelming as we still want to know what else is in store for Ken. Will he be just eye candy? What impact will he have in Barbie's story? We'll just have to wait and see as the release date approaches.
You can catch Ryan Gosling sporting his eye-popping new look in the upcoming movie Barbie coming to theaters on July 21, 2023.
