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Aug 13, 2023

Fans Expertly Defended Ryan Gosling Playing Ken in 'Barbie' Movie With This Viral TikTok

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Folks immediately brought out a throwback video of The Notebook actor.

With all the hype surrounding the highly anticipated Barbie movie, it's natural for some folks to have passionate opinions about the cast members playing pivotal roles. But as Ryan Gosling receives mixed reviews for his upcoming interpretation of Ken, fans are defending his portrayal of the character via a resurfaced video going viral on TikTok.

When the trailer for the film debuted in early April, many viewers had thoughts about Ryan's approach to playing Barbie (Margot Robbie)'s famous significant other. But as people commented on whether The Notebook star aesthetically fits the look associated with the doll, one person found a way to refute the claims entirely.

When user @sunflowermix posted a throwback video of Ryan on TikTok, fans saw the young actor effortlessly perform an electric solo onstage. To drive the message home, they wrote on the 30-second clip of him dancing to Cathy Dennis' "Touch Me (All Night Long)": "'Ryan Gosling isn't fit to play Ken,' explain this then."

As the TikTok quickly reached over 8 million views on the app, people began to realize that Ryan's innate enthusiasm for dancing made him the perfect candidate to portray Ken, who has been described as "confident" and "a dreamer." What's more, once TikTok watchers realized Ryan had this contagious energy coming from within, they added to the conversation with their own agreement in the comments.

"Born with Kenergy," one person wrote. "Please, he invented Ken ✋🏼😌," another user added. "He didn't even have to audition [for Barbie], they just saw this video lol," a different fan exclaimed.

For further context, the surprise clip from Ryan's pre-acting days actually comes with a funny backstory. As the actor disclosed on The Graham Norton Show in January 2017, he performed in a dance troupe called the Elite Dance Studio, which competed in talent shows throughout his native Canada. According to Ryan, he was invested in the performance beyond striking impressive moves.

"I wish someone had said 'Here you have to wear this,'" he said on the show about his outfit. "But that was my idea. I thought 'I have a vision for this number and it's a purple [top] and silver hammer pants' ... I just shimmied my way to that tiny little trophy."

While it's still a while before Barbie hits theaters on July 21, fans can all agree: should Ken perform a dance number, Ryan would easily ace it.

As the entertainment and news editorial assistant for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she's not watching the latest show on Netflix, she's taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.

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