Ryan Gosling's daughters may have been unsure of their dad playing Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie, but he says they were an inspiration nonetheless.
The Canadian actor has two daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 8, and Amada Lee, 7, with Eva Mendes, whom he has been with since 2011 after they met on the set of their movie The Place Beyond the Pines.
Last night, the father of two made his official Ken debut at the premiere of summer's most hyped-up film in Los Angeles, and opened up about his daughter's reaction to the highly anticipated movie.
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Speaking with Entertainment Tonight on the pink carpet, Ryan revealed just how much his daughters had seen of Barbie, which arrives in theaters July 21.
"They've seen a lot of pieces of [the film]," he said, revealing that his girls "helped me a lot with it."
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"They were [a] huge inspiration for me," added the proud dad, explaining how their perspective came in handy when it came to giving his best Ken possible.
Asked if Esmeralda and Amada found their dad's role funny, Ryan confirmed that they did. "Unless it wasn't. And then I worked on it."
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Still, despite their help and apparent stamp of approval, the star, 42, isn't convinced he'll be showing his girls the final product just yet. "Well, it was, I think, weird enough for them that I played Ken anyway," he admitted, adding: "I might like, you know, just hold off on them seeing the full Ken energy."
While neither his wife Eva nor his daughters were in attendance at the star-studded – and very much pink-ified – Los Angeles premiere, Ryan made sure to honor them by way of his monochrome pink look's accessory: a necklace with an "E" for Eva in the signature Barbie font.
Eva and Ryan are notoriously private when it comes to their relationship and family life, but months before Barbie's premiere, fans were already eager to know whether Eva would be by her hubby's side for the event.
The couple have rarely ever made public appearances together. Their first and last official appearance was back in 2012, for the premiere of their movie The Place Beyond the Pines.
Responding to fan comments on her Instagram back in April, the Hitch actress explained why they shouldn't count on a red carpet appearance from the two.
When Eva shared an Instagram post of her and Ryan's time on their 2012 film, one fan couldn't help but comment: "Eva, I want to to be honest with you, but I really hope Barbie will get through the awards season just to see you with Ryan. I know, I'm selfish and probably a dreamer, but I will never stop dreaming about it!!"
To that the mother-of-two first noted: "You're the best! What a cool comment, thank you," going on to point out, "But we don't do those things together."
Eva, 49, explained: "Like these photos I've been posting, I'm only comfortable posting because it's already out there," adding: "Oh wait – for those who may catch me in a 'lie' – we only were on the red carpet together once when promoting this film."