Ryan Gosling’s Daughters Don’t Understand Why He’s Playing Ken in Upcoming ‘Barbie’ Movie: ‘Nobody Plays With Ken’

Sydni Ellis
·3 min read
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Barbie is an icon. She always has the best hair, the coolest jobs, and impeccable fashion. That’s one reason why kids and their parents are equally excited about Greta Gerwig’s live-action Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and premiering in July 2023. But two little girls are confused about Ryan Gosling’s character Ken — and, honestly, they have a point.

In an interview with heat magazine, per The Daily Mail, Gosling revealed his daughters Esmeralda Amada Gosling, 7, and Amada Lee Gosling, 6, whom he shares with partner Eva Mendes, didn’t understand why he’d want to play Ken.

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“They can’t for the life them understand why I want to play Ken because nobody plays with Ken!” Gosling told the outlet. But this made him even more determined to represent this often-overlooked character. “But that’s why we must tell his story,” he added.

I mean, Ken in Toy Story 2 was kind of shallow (and friends with some seriously bad toys), and Ken the doll is OK…but why would you choose him when there are so many amazing Barbie dolls to play with instead? Yeah, yeah, he’s got abs — but did he champion civil and economic rights? Did he inspire red-carpet fashion looks from real-life celebrities? Has he had over 200 amazing careers? Is he the most popular fashion doll ever produced?! I didn’t think so.

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There is at least one good thing about playing Ken, though: it gives Gosling a chance to watch one of his movies with his kids. “Well, Barbie was a way to do that,” The Gray Man star told the outlet about introducing his young daughters to his films. “Not necessarily like I’m making it for them, but it’s the first time I think they kind of are understanding.”

His role as a dad influences his acting roles. “I’m like a dad first, and part of the reason for doing the film [The Gray Man] was this opportunity for us to go to these interesting places and be there with my kids,” he told heat. Although, his kids don’t always appreciate the cool places they get to see.

“You know it’s funny, we went to France and we went everywhere — we went to the Louvre and all these things. And if I asked them now, ‘What was your favorite part about France?’ They will say ‘The fruit plate at the hotel.’”

Last month, The Notebook star spoke to Good Morning America about another funny moment that happened while filing The Gray Man.

“The whole sequence hinges on me being handcuffed to this bench,” he said recalling one scene in particular. “…There’s lots of explosions going off and I was there with Eva and the kids and they were in a hotel nearby. I got a call in the middle of one of the scenes and I kind of hid behind the bench and used my free hand and it was Eva saying, how long are these explosions going to go on because the girls have a piano zoom class.’” Dad duty never ends, even if you are an action star!

Even though his daughters are skeptical, Gosling is excited about his “Kenaissance,” telling Good Morning America about his character, “It’s hard. You know, a lot of people don’t know this, George Lucas based The Force on ‘kenergy.’ It’s always been there.”

Stream The Gray Man on Netflix (and watch out for the moment when Chris Evans’ character calls Gosling’s character a “Ken doll” in a funny head nod to his new role).

These celebrity fathers are all proud to be “girl dads.”

Launch Gallery: Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling Just Sold Their $4.9 Million Secluded Los Angeles Family Home

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