Ryan Gosling absolutely crushed it at this year's Oscars. The triple threat superstar's 'I'm Just Ken' performance was a song and dance tour de force… that almost didn't happen. On Thursday night (April 11), Gosling revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that if he had his way Barbie The showstopper would have died in the pitch phase.
“The level of pressure there … when the Oscars ask you to perform, they call you and say, 'Would you like to do 'I'm Just Ken?' Immediately say, “Yes, I have to do this!” Or not?”
“100% not,” Gosling replied. “There are many ways it can go wrong.” The ever-enthusiastic Fallon continued to gush about how amazing the performance was, blasting the guests — Slash, Mark Ronson — and then reading off some of the glowing reviews that called it one of the best parts of the Oscars in years.
Gosling told Fallon that his two daughters, ages 7 and 9, with partner Eva Mendes came to Oscar rehearsals and their incredible rendition was, “Daddy's Kenning again.” In fact, he said, it was his children's interest Barbie and the complete disregard for Ken that convinced him to make the film. “It was really a team effort and they were in the movie and they came on set when I shot the number,” Gosling said. “But it's also that a lot of it has no context to it. It's just like a lot of fake tan stains around the house.”
So he invited them to the Oscars dress rehearsal to give them some context on what was going on with the film, since they had never been to a big concert or one of his events before. “But they know all the choreography better than me and the songs,” he said, showing how his girls would show him the right moves backstage between takes.
Gosling, who hosts Saturday night live this weekend for the third time – with musical guest Chris Stapleton – also revealed Barbie Director Greta Gerwig realized he was her Ken thanks to one of his more absurd antecedents SNL bits in “Weekend Update”.
The 2017 sketch was called “Guy Who Just Joined Soho House,” and the line that proved he had the right Kenergy for the job was “Aye, aye, Capt. Blackout booty report!” “Who would have thought Greta Gerwig was watching that song, 'That's my Ken,'” Gosling laughed.
Gosling stars in big-screen reboot of 1980s stunt man TV series The type of autumnin theaters May 3.
Watch Gosling The Tonight Show below.
