Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Compares Kens to The Bachelorette Contestants

Barbie is now playing in theaters, and there is a whole lot to love about the new film, especially Ryan Gosling as Ken. The actor is already getting Oscar buzz for the role, but he's not the only Ken in the film. Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, and John Cena all take on the Ken name in the new movie. Recently, director Greta Gerwig spoke with the Smartless podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) about casting Gosling as Barbie's longtime boyfriend and she revealed that contestants on The Bachelorette reminded Gosling of the Kens in Barbieland. 

"When we started talking about Ken... [Gosling] was like 'Oh, Ken reminds me of the men on The Bachelorette when the woman isn't around, they don't know what to do with themselves, and they get stressed out, and they're doing pushups,'" Gerwig recalled. "And they kind of are competitive with each other. And it's like, if one guy wears glasses and then another guy wears glasses, he's like 'No you took my thing! I'm the guy with glasses!'" she remembers Gosling saying.

Ryan Gosling Channels Ken:

Before the SAG strike, Gosling seemed to be enjoying himself while promoting Barbie by channeling Ken. In fact, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Gosling alongside Margot Robbie, and we asked Gosling how it felt to explore his goofiness in the new film. This led to Robbie praising Gosling's comedic chops, which he pretended not to enjoy. 

"Yeah, it was," Gosling revealed about finally getting to be goofy in a movie. "I mean, you know, Greta [Gerwig] and Margot [Robbie] are really brilliant, you know, and this whole piece is so brilliant because it's so fun, it's so inclusive, and it's just a fun ride if you want to go on it. But there's so much more to it. You know, it's like one of those magic eye pictures. Like if you cross your eyes a little bit, you see the boat that's hiding in there or whatever."

Robbie added, "I don't think you're appreciated enough as the comedic actor that you are. Everyone thinks of you, I think, as such a good dramatic actor and then they're like, 'Oh yeah, he is funny. He was funny in that movie, that movie,' and then this is a whole different level of-"

"The Ken in me can't stand for this to be about Ken anymore. We're here talking about Barbie." Gosling interrupted. 

What Is Barbie About?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hit theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel.