Ryan Gosling on How “The Bachelorette” Influenced His “Barbie ”Performance: 'I Watch a Lot of Reality TV'

The Oscar-nominated Ken actor draws a parallel between Barbie and 'The Bachelorette' in a new interview with 'Variety'

Ryan Gosling's onscreen Kenergy served up quite the final rose.

In a new interview with Variety, the Oscar-nominated Barbie star, 43, said "some of" the inspiration for how he portrayed Mattel's most famous boyfriend "came from The Bachelorette."

"One guy’s the guy that wears glasses. One guy has the one earring. If you were to challenge and do the same thing as that person, you’d be infringing on their identity, and so Ken’s identity became the mink," Gosling said, referring to the furry clothing item his character wears for a large portion of the movie after taking over Barbieland.

Adding that he "watch(es) a lot of reality TV," including The Bachelorette, Gosling told Variety of she show's parallel to Barbie, "It’s not dissimilar, in the sense that they sit around idly waiting for the Bachelorette to acknowledge them."

"And, yes, they have no attention outside of the attention she gives them," he said.

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In Barbie, Gosling's Ken goes from being hopelessly devoted to Margot Robbie's Barbie, to rebelling against the women-led Barbieland and back around to figuring out who he is outside of his relationship to Barbie.

And while he has taken on some heavy characters in the past, Gosling told Variety of Ken, "It's the hardest role I’ve ever had to play."

“It was like a high-wire act — in tiny shorts and no shirt — with no net,” he continued. "I wanted to make sure if I was going to do it — I was like, ‘I can’t mess this up. I can’t be the guy that messed up the Barbie movie."

“So if I’m going to do it, I have to do more than I know that I’m even capable of," Gosling added.

Barbie received eight nominations total for the upcoming Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actor nod for Gosling.

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