Ryan Gosling has received positive praise for his portrayal of Ken in Barbie, but the actor claims the role was not a "piece of cake" to perform.
In an interview with W Magazine, the La La Land actor disclosed what initially occurred to him upon receiving Greta Gerwig's screenplay.
“It was the title page of the script, which said ‘Barbie and Ken,’ but ‘and Ken’ was scratched out," he added.
Afterwards, the Blade Runner star faced the daunting task of portraying a character with no prior material.
"And the next impression was, this is the hardest part I’ll ever play. How do you approach playing a 70-year-old crotchless doll? There’s no research you can do for that,” he shared.
Noting, “There’s no one you can shadow, no documentaries you can watch, no books written about Ken. You’re on your own.”
Meanwhile, Ryan had previously brushed off complaints about Ken that focused solely on his age, arguing that he was too old to be Barbie's companion.
“It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?” he told GQ.
The Notebook starcontinued, “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.’
Adding, “No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never fucked with Ken. That’s the point.”