See Ryan Gosling Look Hilariously Perfect As Ken In The Barbie Movie

We have the first look at Ryan Gosling as Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie, and he actually looks pretty amazing.

By Nathan Kamal | Published

ryan gosling

The upcoming Barbie movie is truly one of the more unexpected combinations of modern pop culture. The adaptation of the iconic Barbie toy line from Mattel is set to be directed by Greta Gerwig and co-written by Noah Baumbach, which gives it the most Academy Award firepower a movie about plastic dolls has ever had (probably). It will star Margot Robbie as the titular character living in a Barbie world, who herself is well on her way to becoming a Hollywood mega-producer. But one thing about Barbie the movie makes absolute sense and that is the casting of real-life heartthrob Ryan Gosling as plastic heartthrob Ken. And here is what that looks like:

Ryan gosling Ken barbie movie

Casting Ryan Gosling as eternal Barbie boyfriend Ken is pretty perfect on a number of levels, down to the long-running internet meme of him being the world’s most perfect boyfriend. It does look like Ryan Gosling is having a blast in the hyper-pink world of barbie. His hair is a deeply unnatural platinum blonde, while his no-doubt completely hairless body is showing off some rockin’ abs under a sleeveless denim jacket. He also has his boxers poking up from his waistband in a very early 1990s Mark Wahlberg fashion, and a dopey smile on his handsome face. If this is Ryan Gosling as Ken, everybody behind Barbie understood the assignment perfectly. 

Ryan Gosling’s Ken and Margot Robbie’s Barbie will be joined by Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu, as a different version of Ken. The movie will also star America Ferreira, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, and reportedly Will Ferrell as a toy company CEO. The plot of the film is still unclear, but with Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach writing it, we can be assured it will likely concern the troubles of soft-spoken, upper-class white people. As long as it is not a gritty reboot take on Barbie and Skipper’s sibling rivalry, we will be happy. The Barbie movie has actually been in development for years and switched studios (from Sony Pictures to Warner Bros.) once before, so it has been a long journey to get to see a bottle blonde Ryan Gosling/Ken. 

The best-case scenario for Barbie might look something like 2014’s The Lego Movie, another film based on the IP of iconic plastic toys that turned out to be shockingly fun and emotionally nuanced. Considering the two share Will Ferrell, it would not be surprising if Barbie tries to take a more mature perspective on the relationship between Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken. Though you never know, this could all just be an excuse for everyone involved to take it easy and knock out some product placement. 


Barbie is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 21, 2023, so we probably will get some more details about the movie and glimpses at Ryan Gosling’s chipper Ken before then. There could even be some changes from the unfortunate report that the movie will not include Aqua’s immortal “Barbie Girl” song, but that might be too much for us to hope for.