Ryan Gosling to Perform Barbie Song "I'm Just Ken" at 2024 Oscars
Ryan Gosling is apparently Kenough for the Academy.
It's finally official: Ryan Gosling will take to the stage during the Academy Awards to perform "I'm Just Ken." The song, which is nominated for an Oscar, was originally performed by Gosling, with contributions from Simu Liu, who played Ken's arch-nemesis (also Ken), and joined the song as part of a huge music video-style song-and-dance war during the movie's third act. Liu has also performed it in concert on his own since the film's release, and recently said he would be open to joining Gosling on stage if the opportunity presented itself.
The song has taken on a life of its own, winning a Critics Choice Award for best song and being nominated for an Oscar. Fans have been wondering whether it will be performed at the Academy Awards, with Barbie's soundtrack producer saying they would only sign off on it if Gosling -- who is also nominated for an acting Oscar for Barbie -- would be allowed to perform it himself.
"Well, I haven't been invited. And I wasn't thinking about it until now, and now it's all I'm going to think about," Gosling joked earlier this month. "Do you get paid to sing at the Oscars? Do you have to drive yourself? What kind of scratch is involved? They pick you up at least, right?"
Ironically, Gosling played the lead role in a prestige musical -- 2016's La La Land -- and didn't get nominated for any of his songs in that movie (although his co-star Emma Stone did, for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)"). This time around, it could be argued that "I'm Just Ken" is a favorite to win, especially since the movie itself is nominated in a number of categories, but unlikely to win any of the "big" ones because it's up against a more conventional Oscar favorite in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.
Here's the official synopsis for the film:
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.
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.