Ryan Gosling responds to fans who have been dishing out tons of criticism for his portrayal of Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie. The highly anticipated Barbie film is based on the famous Mattel toy line and will be helmed by Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig, complete with a script written by her and Noah Baumbach.
The Barbie movie features actress Margot Robbie in the titular role, starring opposite her love interest, Ken (Gosling). The rest of the cast is being filled out with stellar performances by Emma Mackey, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Ritu Arya, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, and America Ferrera. Although there is without a doubt a huge sense of excitement in the air leading up to the release of the project, the promotional images that were released shortly after seemed to leave a bad taste in many fans’ mouths, especially when it came to Gosling's take on Ken. The image that many fans are finding a bit puzzling and troublesome showcases Gosling trying on a completely foreign look, one which many fans think doesn't align best with his past filmography. In the picture, Gosling is seen flaunting beach blonde surfer hair, paired with a denim jacket complete with cutoff sleeves, as he poses in front of a bubble-gum pink colored house. Many fans claimed Gosling is way too old for this role, given that Ken is supposed to embody early 20s frat-boy vibes as opposed to a polished 41-year-old actor.
The startling age gap between the two stars has also raised an issue given that Robbie is 32 years old, marking a nearly 10-year difference between her and Gosling. Yet, Gosling seems to disagree and hasn’t been silent in his response to fans’ criticism of him possibly not being the right guy for the iconic role. In an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Gosling defended his version of Ken. He stated, “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. He’s an accessory and not even one of the cool ones,” Gosling continued. It’s quite interesting that the public is so defensive and protective of Ken as a character when Gosling does illuminate the fact that Barbie is the real star. To Gosling, Ken is nothing but a pawn, a tool utilized to uplift and help tell Barbie's story - nothing more, nothing less. Although Gosling's full portrayal of Ken has yet to be revealed, various clips and images from the set have already been released.
One moment in particular that fans seemed to gravitate to was a scene in which Gosling lets out an extremely high-pitched squeal once Robbie's Barbie ends up punching a groper. This provided a much-needed sense of comic relief for fans, but it also seemed to be the exact thing that fans had a problem with because it revealed to many just how ‘old’ Gosling is for the role due to his vocal capabilities.
Plot details surrounding the upcoming Barbie film have been mainly kept under wraps, and it's still unknown how much the movie will be following the original Mattel toys' backstory. All that’s for certain is that Barbie will be the main character and star of the entire film, with Ken possibly just being there for some giggles. Therefore, since it’s Barbie's movie after all, maybe fans should pay more attention and direct their excitement toward Robbie's upcoming portrayal rather than Gosling's take on Ken.
Barbie is scheduled to release in theaters on July 21, 2023.