Ryan Gosling is bringing the “Kenergy” to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie — but not when his daughters ask him to play with their dolls.
“My kids, their Barbies aren’t even named ‘Barbie.’ They all have their own names [and] very complicated lives, backstories, interrelationships, history — you gotta know it all,” Gosling, 42, told ET Canada during a Thursday, June 29, interview at a Barbie press event in Toronto. “If you are playing with the two that are estranged now for some reason [and you did not know that], it’s like, ‘Get out of here.’”
The La La Land star shares daughters Esmeralda, 8, and Amada, 7, with his longtime partner Eva Mendes. Gosling and Mendes, 49, have been together for more than one decade after meeting on the set of 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines. The couple loves doting on their little girls, even if it means playing by their rules when it comes to doll adventures.
“[The dolls] don’t even talk!” Gosling quipped on Thursday, during a joint interview with his sister, Mandi Gosling. “And by the way, [Ken] works at a grocery store, he’s not a fireman. You gotta know [the story lines].”
Esmeralda and Amada will soon see their dad portray a different version of Ken when Barbie hits theaters on July 21 — and Mendes already approves of the character.
“Well, first of all, I saw the [shirtless] photo [of Ryan in character] and the 14-year-old in me was like, ‘Ahhh,’” the Hitch actress quipped during a June 2022 appearance on The Talk, referring to the first portrait of Gosling with bleached-blond hair. “It’s a funny photo and he’s trying to be funny. So, it worked on all levels. … I [asked him], ‘Can I please have that underwear? Please! I never ask for anything.’ So anyway, I do have it. I’m wearing it right now.”
Two months later, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Mendes is “always supportive” of Gosling’s career. “She finds it cute and charming that he’s playing the role of Ken,” the insider said in August 2022. “They were actually having fun role-playing together after he went blond. They both got some good laughs.”
Gosling’s 46-year-old sister also noted on Thursday that his casting seemed like a “no-brainer” decision.
“Of course, he’s Ken! I mean, [he] might’ve had to look deep for ‘Kenergy,’ but I always knew it was there,” Mandi quipped to ET Canada.
When he’s not preparing to bring the iconic doll to life, Ryan and Mendes primarily raise their little ones outside of the spotlight.
“The feeling is that they’ll relate to each other better by being outside of Hollywood, either in Canada or further afield from Los Angeles somewhere like Santa Barbara or further up the coast,” a second source previously told Us in January 2022. “It’s ironic that they fell in love shooting Place Beyond the Pines in upstate New York, which is just the type of area they’d love to kick back and enjoy raising their kids.”
The insider noted that Ryan and Mendes want their daughters to grow up in an “outdoor environment” away from big city pressures. There, the Crazy, Stupid Love actor is “dedicated” to being a present dad.
