Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is headed to theaters in just over a month and while there is a lot that fans are looking forward to when it comes to the eagerly anticipated film, the costumes are a big part of it. As we’ve seen in teasers, trailers, and images from the film Margot Robbie’s Barbie has loads of fabulous and colorful clothes to wear in the film. But when it comes to Ryan Gosling’s Ken, well, his wardrobe is far simpler. As it turns out, that’s bey design. Barbie costume designer Jacqueline Durran recently told Vogue UK (via Variety) that the focus was more on Barbie because “no one cares about Ken”.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“No one cares about Ken, everybody just wants to play with Barbie,” Durran said. “He matches Barbie and changes too, but he has very, very many less [clothes] options.”
As for what clothing options Ken did have, Durran explained that much of the focus for his looks came from retro sportswear from the 1980s.
“Retro sportswear is one area where we did a lot of shopping for Ken,” Durran explained. “He is sporty. That’s his main thing. We had buyers in America that went to dealers and imported it for us because we needed so much of it.”
Ryan Gosling Has Even Agreed That No One Cares About Ken — But He Does
Gosling has previously spoken out about his character in the film, joking about how people have never really been that interested in Ken, but he will be Ken’s representative now.
“It is funny,” Gosling joked, “this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?”
“And everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing. But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t,” he added. “You never did. You never cared. Barbie never f-cked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So, your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.”
Gosling argued, “I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative. ‘Ken couldn’t show up to receive this award, so I’m here to accept it for him.’ ”
Barbie and Ken Are Going on Tour
Of course, with the Barbie movie headed to theaters, people may just start caring a lot more about Ken and that appreciation will have a chance to go global. On Monday, the official Barbie movie account shared a video of Robbie and Gosling announcing plans for a global premiere tour for the film. The tour includes eight cities — Toronto, Sydney, Seoul, Mexico City, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, and New York.
Barbie will star Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, as well as Issa Rae as President Barbie, Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie, Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie, Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie, Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie, Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie, Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie, Kate McKinnon as Gymnast Barbie, Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie, Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie. Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and Scott Evans will all play different versions of Ken, with Emerald Fennell as Midge, Michael Cera as Allan.
The cast of Barbie also includes Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, America Ferrera, Arana Greenblatt, Rhea Perlman, John Cena, and Marisa Abela.
Barbie will be released exclusively in theaters on July 21st.
