Greta Gerwig Says Sylvester Stallone Inspired Ken in the“ Barbie ”Movie: 'Ryan Gosling Loves Him'

"Ken's faux mink came from Sylvester Stallone's amazing outfits,” the director revealed on a panel on Friday

Greta Gerwig has named Sylvester Stallone as the surprising inspiration behind Ken in the Barbie movie.

Speaking on a panel after a special screening of Barbie at the Directors Guild of America Theater in West Hollywood on Friday, the director and writer, 40, revealed that Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Ken in the hit film was based on Stallone, 77, after she and Gosling bonded over their love for the action star.

“Ryan Gosling also loves Sylvester Stallone,” said Gerwig, who was joined by composer Mark Ronson and performer Dua Lipa on the panel. “We had so long to think about it and talk about it, and he and I really did. His faux mink came from Sylvester Stallone's amazing outfits.”

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Stallone famously rocked a fur coat in what became one of his defining looks in the 1970s and 1980s. It also became a signature look for Ken after taking over Barbieland in the Barbie film.

Aside from Ken's style, Gerwig said that Stallone inspired the character's journey in the film on the panel.

“When I think of adorned men, I think he's probably the best one,” she continued. “And I feel like Ken was nothing if not a man in search of adornment. So that was a really key moment where we were like, it is, it's Sly. And we talked about specific moments we really loved in his films.”

The director said that Stallone also influenced “how we went about” the song “I'm Just Ken" — which was written by Ronson, 48, and collaborator Andrew Wyatt, and was performed by Gosling, 42, in the film.

It's unclear whether Stallone knew all that when he was the film. But Gerwig did say on the panel that he got in contact with her afterwards. “He was into it, which I was very honored,” she said.

Elsewhere on the panel, the filmmaker listed the musical films Grease (1978) and Saturday Night Fever (1977) and "movies driven by pop music" as influences for the music in Barbie.

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“Something that Mark and I talked about right away was my love of disco. And he contributed to the really wonderful documentary about the Bee Gees which I really loved,” Gerwig explained. “And I thought about obviously Saturday Night Fever, but also Xanadu which is such a wonderful campy thing. And also, Grease, which is a disco musical, but it's about the 1950s and it has this kind of quality of taking place in no time, but every time.”

“And I thought that sort of was kind of the essence of what I wanted to go for,” the director said.

Speaking on adding disco artist Lipa, 28, to the Barbie soundtrack, Gerwig added, "There's no one who more encapsulates that spirit of sharp, brilliant disco. And I was like, is this possible? Let's do this."

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