Simu Liu Went Viral On TikTok For Posting BTS Video Of The Barbie Cast Singing Matchbox 20, And The Fans Reactions Are As Funny As The Clip

Simu Liu as Ken in Barbie teaser trailer
(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Has any other film on the 2023 movie schedule topped the extraordinaire of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie? As audiences still reel from the cultural phenomenon of the summer mega-blockbuster, Simu Liu took to social media to share a hilarious behind-the-scenes video that inspired some hilarious commentary among fans. 

Who can forget the Barbie sequence that has all the Kens collectively singing Matchbox Twenty’s “Push” to the Barbies during their plot to reclaim Barbie Land? Simu Liu must know how much fans have loved that scene in particular considering he posted this on TikTok: 

@simuliu

so i was in this movie that came out in the summer have you heard of it?

♬ original sound - Simu Liu

Simu Liu and the Barbie cast got to promote the movie ahead of it reaching audiences. However, once Barbie hit theaters in July, Hollywood was newly embroiled in a historic SAG-AFTRA actors strike that just ended this week after 118 days. So once the world had seen the movie, Liu could not post spoilery behind-the-scenes videos like this one. Now that studios and actors have reached an agreement, Liu is no longer gatekeeping this amazing moment in the vocal booth. 

Since Simu Liu posted the video on his TikTok account, it has received over 5.5 million views. Check out some of the best comments that are just as good as the video itself: 

  • “The fact that they all did it together is SO ken”
  • “THEM ALL BEING LINED UP IN BOOTHS IS SO FUNNY TO ME”
  • “Best part of the video is Scott Evans in the background 🥰”
  • “The strike ending is the gift that keeps on giving 😂”
  • “The Kenfinity window is so funny, Kens as far as the eye ken see!”
  • “The vocals ate” 

Oftentimes, when you see and hear a piece of music in a movie, the actors may have sung it on set, but it’s likely they recorded it in a vocal booth as well. For the “Push” scene, Liu revealed that in order to bring the moment to life sound-wise, he and all the Kens were placed in separate recording booths to belt out the song. You can tell the actor and some of the Barbie cast, notably Scott Evans in the booth next to him, are having a ton of fun belting “Push” in unison. One can imagine that was a particularly wild work day. 

Amidst the end of the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike, tons of actors have been coming out of their proverbial holes to celebrate the new contract and the projects they were not allowed to talk about for months. Liu also posted this following the strike’s conclusion: 

While Simu Liu didn’t get to say a ton about Barbie’s “Push” scene after its release, Matchbox Twenty’s frontman Rob Thomas shared why he was game for the song to be in the movie and Kevin Bacon even covered the song alongside another Barbie track on his guitar surrounded by his goats. It’s safe to say this is a scene we won’t forget anytime soon and Liu’s behind-the-scenes video is too good.  

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.