‘Barbie’: Ryan Gosling Initially Turned Down Ken Role Due To Scheduling Conflicts, But Greta Gerwig & Margot Wouldn’t Let Him Say No

The Oscars remain about a month away, but all eyes are on the final showdown between “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Which movie of the “Barbenheimer” crazy will win the most awards at the ceremony?  Christopher Nolan‘s film leads Greta Gerwig‘s with 13 nominations against 8, but more crucial questions prevail: like, will Ryan Gosling perform “I’m Just Ken” live on the telecast?

READ MORE: Margot Robbie On ‘Barbie’ Oscar Snubs: “No Way To Be Sad When You’re This Blessed”

Gosling didn’t confirm that’ll happen in a new Variety cover story, but he did reveal another juicy morsel: he initially turned down the Ken role due to scheduling conflicts. It was only after Gerwig and star-producer Margot Robbie pressed for months to take the role until he finally acquiesced. “There was a question of his schedule, but I just knew it had to be him,” Gerwig told Variety. “I think at one point I told him that I’d seen the future, and that he was in it and he was Ken. That made him laugh, but I think he also secretly saw the same future.”

It feels impossible after the big year “Barbie” had that Gosling almost didn’t bring the Kenergy, but it’s true. “There were actual reasons why I couldn’t do the film,” Gosling recalled. “Schedule things. Life things. And I would call months later to my agents or something and say, ‘Hey, who did they get to play Ken?’ And they would say, ‘Greta says it’s you.’” It turns out Gerwig didn’t have any other actor in mind for the role and would accept no substitutes. In drafts of the “Barbie” script she co-write with partner Noah Baumbach during COVID lockdown, she even used his name in the pages: Ken was “Ken Ryan Gosling.”

Robbie agreed with Gerwrig that there was only one actor born to play their Kein. “We didn’t want any part of this movie to feel like a letdown,” said the actress. And Robbie wasn’t above a little light bribery to get Gosling to come on board. “I promised him a present every day,” she continued. “I said, ‘I’ll buy you a present every day if you come and do this movie.’ And so I did. I bought him a present every day, and I’d leave it in his trailer, wrapped in pink and a bow tie, and it said, ‘To Ken.’” Granted, the gifts were playful trinkets and other stuff like books on horses, but that’s another example of how steadfast Gerwig and Robbie were about their choice of Gosling as Ken.

And Gosling did inevitably go along with Gerwig and Robbie’s plan. “Eventually, I thought, ‘Who am I to argue with Greta Gerwig and Margot?’ They had a vision for it. They believed it. And they believed I should do it more than I believed I shouldn’t.” It turns out that the pairs creative vision was too much for Gosling to deny: he had to bring the Kenergy. “At a certain point, I thought, ‘They see something that I don’t see.’ I thought it was such a great part that anyone could play it. I understand now, but it took me a while.”

For Robbie, she thought Gosling had qualities as an actor that Gerwig’s Ken needed. “We couldn’t imagine anyone else being able to do all the things he needed to and also have the humility to be Ken in a Barbie movie,” Robbie said. “I don’t know if a lot of big male movie stars would do a film with a female director where their character isn’t the title of the film. We both sensed [Gosling is] not that kind of guy.” The actress listed off a number of Gosling’s unique acting traits, specifically a comedic range that’s sincere yet not satirical, but there was another obvious quality. “And of course, he’s gorgeous,” added Robbie. “He’s unbelievably gorgeous. Our Ken needed to have that.”

Gerwig and Robbie didn’t get nominated for Best Director or Best Actress for “Barbie,” a choice by the Academy that’s led to fan backlash. But would a win for Gosling as Best Supporting Actor still count as a win, along with Best Picture? Or maybe a live performance of “I’m Just Ken” will suffice for “Barbie” fans. After all, Gerwig and Robbie are right about one thing: does anybody Ken better than Ryan Gosling?