Ryan Gosling
How Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig persuaded him to become Ken
Ryan Gosling didn’t want to be Ken at first – now he’s nominated for an Oscar for the role.
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Ryan Gosling was reluctant to play Ken. With persuasion and gifts, his colleagues were finally able to persuade him.
Ryan Gosling (43) talked about his not-so-easy role as Ken in the “Barbie” film. Among other things, he revealed in a new interview with “Variety” that he played Barbie’s friend mainly because director Greta Gerwig (40) and leading actress Margot Robbie (33) simply didn’t let up.
He initially rejected the role of Ken. “There were actually reasons why I couldn’t do the film,” Gosling said. “Scheduled things. Life things.” But Gerwig refused to look for another Ken. “And months later I called my agents and said, ‘Hey, who did they get to play Ken?’ And they said, ‘Greta says it’s you.'”
Robbie gave Gosling a little something every day
Margot Robbie even bribed Gosling with the promise of giving him presents every day while filming. The two women ultimately got their way: “Finally I thought, ‘Who am I to mess with Greta Gerwig and Margot? They had a vision for this film. They believed in it. And they believed more in me should do it when I believed I shouldn’t do it.”
Robbie also stuck to her announcements about the gifts. So every day in his trailer there was a little gift “For Ken” wrapped in pink wrapping paper waiting for Gosling. These were usually small gifts that had something to do with his character, such as a shell necklace or a book about horses.
“Barbie” was more difficult than “Blue Valentine”
Contrary to expectations, the portrayal of Ken Gosling is said to have demanded a lot. Here’s how the actor compares working on “Barbie” to working on the highly emotional drama “Blue Valentine”: “There were moments when I thought, ‘Working hasn’t felt this hard since ‘Blue Valentine’.” There were moments , where I was emotionally drained after ‘Blue Valentine’ and I was lying on the floor of the car on the drive home – just empty. And it was even harder to play Ken. And I thought, ‘How can I feel that in this movie.’ ?'”
For his performance, Gosling is nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor this year. The song he performed, “I’m Just Ken,” could also win Best Original Song – which is why there is a possibility that Gosling could perform the song live at the event. The actor also commented on this now. “I haven’t been asked yet,” says Gosling. “It might be too much of a risk to let me do that. I don’t know how that would work. But I would be open to it.”