Move over, Bowser and Peaches, there’s another movie character here to steal your 1980s power-ballad glory.
And it’s Ken. Just Ken.
“Barbie” movie star Ryan Gosling bares his soul and his chest in the just-dropped music video for the Greta Gerwig-directed film. And he’s really in his feelings about Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) sojourn to the real world and what that means for his second-fiddle status.
“I have feelings that I can’t explain / Driving me insane / All my life been so polite / ‘Cause I’m just Ken / Anywhere else I’d be a 10 / Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blond fragility?” Gosling sings.
The Oscar nominated “La La Land” and “Half Nelson” star brings his so-called “Ken-rgy” to “I’m Just Ken” — however insecure the sentient plaything might feel about being friend-zoned by the iconic Barbie. The slow-building teaser, the latest in the pink-hued hype machine for the highly anticipated July 21 release, also lays the groundwork for a narrative arc for Barbie’s much-maligned male counterpart. Gosling’s Ken becomes the unexpected emotional center of the movie after falling into toxic masculinity tropes and coming out the other side.
Joined in the video by several other Kens appearing in the movie — Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir — Gosling’s cheeky Ken wonders aloud what it will take for Barbie to “see the man behind the tan” and culminates in him menacingly yelling threats about Malibu Beach.
“It was the gravitas he’s able to bring as an actor that was part of what made everything so heartfelt — but also so funny,” Gerwig recently told The Times.
“Ken sang that song,” Gosling also joked with The Times’ Mark Olsen. “I never sang like that in my life. I don’t know why or how that happened.”
The song was written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who won Oscars for their work on the “A Star Is Born” hit “Shallow.” Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash played on Gosling’s “Just Ken” too, soundtrack producer Ronson told Variety.
“Just Ken” is the latest to be released from the original motion picture’s soundtrack, which includes Grammy-winning artists Billie Eilish and original songs from Lizzo, Charli XCX and Dua Lipa. Lipa’s “Dance the Night” dropped last month.
Gosling also sings a straight-faced version of the Matchbox 20 hit “Push,” and Robbie, who also produced the film, begged to have a version of Aqua’s 1997 hit single “Barbie Girl” incorporated into the movie. The latest iteration of “Barbie Girl” is a remix from hip-hop Barbie Nicki Minaj and rapper Ice Spice called “Barbie World,” which was released late last month.
