Ryan Gosling’s Ken-ification is nothing short of astonishing. Since it was revealed that The Big Short actor would be playing the iconic boyfriend of Barbie in her self-titled movie (lol), Gosling’s gradual transformation into full-time Ken has been a delight.
For someone who predominantly plays either a heart throb (The Notebook, La La Land, Crazy Stupid Love) or a bad boy (The Place Beyond the Pines, Drive, Gangster Squad), his seamless transition into a fake-tanned, pink-loving Ken has been remarkable.
That being said, Gosling’s career did begin on Disney Channel’s The Mickey Mouse Club, so his versatility shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
Nevertheless, the only thing that has come as a bit of a revelation is Gosling’s increasing inability to switch off his Ken-ergy off set, the latest example of which came on April 25 at the Warner Bros. Pictures Studio’s CinemaCon, where he wore a pleasingly plush pink Harrington-style jacket.
Barbie — which is set to premiere in theaters across the US on July 21, 2023 — has garnered a fair amount of press since Gosling and Margot Robbie were revealed as Ken and Barbie respectively.
More recently though, a lot of the talk was about who else had been cast in the Greta Gerwig-directed movie or, more to the point, who hadn’t?! Alongside Gosling and Robbie, the star-studded line-up also includes a myriad of names like Dua Lipa, John Cena, and Hari Nef, as well as actors like Helen Mirren, Will Ferrell, and Michael Cera, plus many, many (many) more.
Gosling’s portrayal of Ken both on and off screen, though, is for me the most pleasing thing to come from all of this so far, and just a quick skim of Twitter proves I’m not alone in my thinking.
With still just under three-months to go until Barbie officially premieres, I’m dead excited to see how much more Ken-ification and “Ken-ergy” burning Gosling has left to do. Who knows, by the time July comes the name Ryan could well be a thing of the past.