The Barbie movie was absolutely everything in 2023. From getting everybody to embrace pink in their wardrobes to making poignant statements about the demands put on women and still reminding men that they are “Ken-ough,” there were few things bigger happening in pop culture. One of the best celebrations of Barbie came at the Oscars, with Ryan Gosling’s performance of Best Original Song nominee “I’m Just Ken,” but according to Simu Liu, pulling the number off was much harder than it looked.
There were questions about whether or not Ryan Gosling would perform “I’m Just Ken” at the 96th annual Academy Awards, and according to Barbie’s “Rival Ken” Simu Liu, there were a lot of unknowns pretty much up to the last minute. He told Collider:
It's up there. I'd say probably top five moments just in how it came together and the ‘live’ of it all, and I think I'm over-dramatizing if I say it was close to disaster, but I will say this: as of dress rehearsal on Saturday night, it was not looking good. So, the fact that we were able to pull it all together and execute it so, so brilliantly on Sunday was a feat.
Brilliant is a good word to describe it. From the symbolism behind Ryan Gosling starting his performance behind Margot Robbie to including Emma Stone in the scene, he and the dozens of actors around him even had Martin Scorsese feeling the “Kenergy.”
With that caliber of celebrity in the crowd — not to mention how many people were watching the live broadcast — was Simu Liu nervous leading up to the number? He said:
For sure. Well, especially for myself or for Scott [Evans], Ncuti [Gatwa], and Kingsley [Ben-Adir], who play the other Kens. We obviously have smaller parts in this, and we're really trying to be there to support Ryan. I think the biggest thing was, like, don't mess it up. Don't be the guy that messes it up for him and for this film, and for everyone.
It was a lot of pressure, to be sure, as the number came together so quickly and went through multiple choreography changes, but he said between Ryan Gosling and their choreographer, they were able to avoid anything disastrous. The Marvel actor continued:
It's a lot. But to be fair, too, we're backed up by this amazing choreography by Mandy Moore. We had 70 other Kens coming in who were all incredible dancers and Slash coming on stage. So, we were pretty well supported.
That would be the same Mandy Moore that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone worked with on La La Land and the same one who choreographed a little thing called Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, so yeah, it’s possible that Simu Liu is being a tad dramatic.
I totally get it, though, because on the other hand, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu and the rest are not Taylor Swift, so they’re not used to the demands of live performances and ever-changing choreography. In the end, however, they were more than Kenough.
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