Ryan Gosling channelled his 鈥淜en-ergy鈥� to defend himself against those who think he鈥檚 鈥渢oo old鈥� to play doll Ken in the new 鈥淏arbie鈥� movie.
The origin of this silliness began back in April when the first 鈥淏arbie鈥� movie trailer was released and a debate on social media ensued, with some users voicing their opinion that the 42-year-old actor appeared too 鈥済rown up鈥� to play Ken.
鈥淚f people don鈥檛 want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with,鈥� Gosling said in a new GQ interview published on Wednesday in response to those skeptics.
He went on to say that he thinks this discourse is 鈥渇unny鈥� given that 鈥渇or 60 years, (Ken鈥檚) job has been beach鈥� and that 鈥渆veryone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing.鈥�
鈥淏ut suddenly, it鈥檚 like, 鈥楴o, we鈥檝e cared about Ken this whole time.鈥� No, you didn鈥檛. You never did. You never cared,鈥� he said, adding that 鈥渋f you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed.鈥�
The person who does care about Ken, and deeply so, is Gosling, who admitted with a laugh that he now feels like Ken鈥檚 鈥渞epresentative.鈥�
Gosling also spoke about the various factors that compelled him to take on the role of the iconic Mattel doll in the Greta Gerwig-directed comedy, with one of the main draws being the opportunity to be part of a film that put female characters out front. The film stars Margot Robbie, alongside Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef and America Ferrera, among many others.
But in terms of his impetus to take on the role of Barbie鈥檚 main squeeze, Gosling talked about how his two daughters, whom he shares with his longtime partner Eva Mendes, play with Barbie and Ken dolls.
鈥淚 did see him, like, face down in the mud outside one day, next to a squished lemon,鈥� Gosling told the outlet of his daughter鈥檚 Ken doll, adding that such a sight inspired him to think, 鈥淭his guy鈥檚 story does need to be told, you know?鈥�
鈥淏arbie鈥� will hit theatres on July 21.
