Ryan Gosling Says His Kids Were Confused 'Why I Would Want to Play Ken' in 'Barbie' Movie (Exclusive)

The actor shares his two kids, Esmeralda and Amada, with longtime partner Eva Mendes

Ryan Gosling may be Greta Gerwig's Ken, but his kids aren't quite sure why he'd want to play the part.

While speaking with PEOPLE prior to the premiere of Barbie, the actor, 42, shared that since he didn't play with Barbies himself growing up, his kids were his main entryway into the brand. "My kids were my introduction to [Barbie]," he says.

"I think they're confused as to why I would want to play Ken. They have no use for Ken."

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Related: Ryan Gosling's 'Barbie' Premiere Look Included a Sweet and Subtle Nod to Eva Mendes

He went on to share that his daughters also helped him prepare for a scene that required an extra amount of work. "My kids were around for the months at home, as I was prepping for it," he tells PEOPLE. "So they, inadvertently, were prepping for it too."

"And they came to set that day and were a huge sense of support and doing it with me off-camera," Gosling concludes.

Gosling shares his two daughters — Amada, 7, and Esmeralda, 8 — with his longtime partner Eva Mendes. The couple — who have been together since 2011 — first met while filming The Place Beyond the Pines.

After playing a pretend family with Mendes in the 2012 film, Gosling realized he wanted to start a family of his own with the actress. "I wasn’t thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn’t want to have kids without her," The Notebook star told GQ in 2023.

He added, "And there were moments on The Place Beyond the Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn’t really want it to be pretend anymore."

The couple is fairly private when it comes to their kids, with Mendes explaining their boundaries in 2020. "I have always had a clear boundary when it comes to my man and my kids. I'll talk about them of course, with limits, but I won't post pictures of our daily life," Mendes wrote on Instagram.

"Since my children are still so little and don't understand what posting their image really means, I don't have their consent. And I won't post their image until they're old enough to give me consent."

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