Just days after going viral at the Critics Choice Awards for his reaction to "I'm Just Ken" winning Best Song, Ryan Gosling is talking all things Barbie, and also all things family.
The 43-year-old actor and musician was asked by E! News at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival what his daughters with longtime partner Eva Mendes thought of the Greta Gerwig fantasy comedy.
But as it turns out, their two girls, nine-year-old Esmeralda and seven-year-old Amada, haven't seen the movie yet, despite helping him prep for the role.
"I don't know if you should watch your father as Ken," the Dead Man's Bones frontman told the outlet. "I don't know what age is a good age to see your father do that. It gets pretty crazy."
He added, though, that they weren't completely unfamiliar with Greta's vision or what he'd done for the film, as they did visit him on set. "They've seen little parts of it and they came to set one day when I did a big musical number."
Ryan has opened up in interviews about how much Esmeralda and Amada loved Barbie from the jump, which was a big factor in him taking the role.
© Getty ImagesHe told E!: "I knew that they loved it because they kept saying at first, 'Hey, can we go to Target?' And we go to Target, and then they'd slowly go by the Barbie aisle.
"And my wife and I sort of realized, 'OK, I think it's time to let them have Barbies.' And no interest in Ken, which was pretty interesting, too," saying that taking on the film was a "way to sort of make something both for and with them."
MORE: Why Eva Mendes kept Ryan Gosling marriage secret for years after 'very boring' milestone confession
He also continued to gush about Eva, 49, his partner since 2011, when they met on the set of the 2012 movie The Place Beyond the Pines, and remarked that he'd love to relive that experience with her. "That was the greatest experience I had making a film, so I hope so."
© Getty ImagesAt the same event, the La La Land actor was honored with the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, and spoke lovingly about Eva and their daughters.
"Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children," he said of the greatest gift his film career had given him.
© Getty ImagesBack in July, at the Los Angeles premiere of Barbie, the Oscar-nominated actor revealed that his daughters had in fact "seen a lot of pieces of [the film]," and "helped me a lot with it" in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
MORE: Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes enjoy family day out with daughters amid Barbie success
But even back then, he admitted that he was reluctant to give them the full Kenergy experience. "Well, it was, I think, weird enough for them that I played Ken anyway," he admitted. "I might like, you know, just hold off on them seeing the full Ken energy."
© Alamy Stock PhotoHe did say, however, that Esmeralda and Amada definitely found his scene-stealing role worth the laughs. "Unless it wasn't. And then I worked on it."
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