Barbie’s Ryan Gosling Shares What We Can Expect From His Version Of Ken

Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie
(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Barbie has had a major presence in toy sections for over 60 years, but next year, Mattel is partnering with Warner Bros and Margot Robbie’s production company to bring the famous doll to live action. Barbie will star Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, and it's being directed by Ladybird’s Greta Gerwig. It sounds amazing, but what should we expect from such a bright pink shade of a film? 

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are currently filming Barbie all around Los Angeles, and we’ve seen the pair donning cowboy outfits and skating around Venice Beach in visors. There's a lot of excitement about what exactly this the movie will be. While Gosling was doing press for his Netflix movie, The Gray Man, the actor may have shed some light on what we can expect. In his words: 

That Ken life is even harder than the Gray Man life, I think. Ken’s got no money, he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff.

Hmm… now I’m even more intrigued. While speaking to ET, Gosling may have teased some of the plot of Barbie for us. By this information, maybe Barbie and Ken drop into the real world after being dolls their whole life and are met with the reality of not having unlimited clothes, shoes, dream houses and cars at their fingertips? That’d be a pretty wild premise, wouldn’t it? 

Now keep in mind, Ryan Gosling has been in the business since starring in the Mickey Mouse Club and he could very much be throwing us off with that answer. Gosling shared those details about Barbie when he was asked about if he trained more for Barbie or The Gray Man. For Barbie, a first look image was previously released of the actor in platinum blonde hair, a denim vest jacket and a whole lot of tanned-up abs to show for. 

His Barbie co-star Simu Liu, who knows a bit about working out given he is Marvel’s Shang-Chi, said Ryan Gosling has been going to the gym a couple of times a day sometimes to embody the doll on film. During the interview, the interviewer probed Gosling to share more about Barbie, but he only echoed Margot Robbie’s previous statements of it being unexpected to what one might think about it, as well as said he’s “excited” for it. 

While we wait to learn more about Barbie, which is among 2023’s upcoming movie releases, Ryan Gosling stars alongside Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Regé-Jean Page in The Gray Man from the Russo Brothers. Ahead of its release, the movie has received positive first reactions, with it being called “James Bond meets Fast and Furious.” You can check out The Gray Man in select theaters starting July 15, followed by the Netflix premiere on July 22.  

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.