Barbie star Ryan Gosling says his daughters were ‘confused’ by him playing Ken

He was the Ken to Margot Robbie’s Barbie, but surprisingly Ryan Gosling’s daughters weren’t so impressed.

In fact, the Canadian actor revealed that his kids were ‘confused’ when took on the now-iconic role and questioned why their dad would want to become the living doll.

However, the Barbie star revealed that there is a lot more Ken-energy since he landed the pastel pink picture.

Warner Bros

During an interview with the New York Times, Gosling confessed that his daughters Esmeralda, eight, and Amada, seven, who he shares with Eva Mendes, didn’t play with Barbies before the film.

“Barbie landed in my house at the same time as the script, basically,” he admitted.

Joking about how obsessed his kids have become with the dolls, Gosling added: “They all have complicated back stories, lives, relationships, hopes, dreams. It’s incredible how intricate the world is that they’ve created.”

Despite this, his children were ‘confused’ when their dad landed the role of Ken in Greta Gerwig’s film.

It turns out his daughters don’t refer to their dolls as Barbie and Ken, as Gosling explained: “One of them is named Darrell. And Darrell works at a grocery store. One of the Barbies’ names is Gym Class."

He then joked: “And Gym Class met Darrell at the grocery store, but Gym Class, she’s focusing on herself right now.”

While his family might not appreciate Ken-energy, the same can’t be said for Gosling’s co-star Margot Robbie.

Warner Bros

Unsurprisingly, the Aussie actor was pretty disappointed she didn’t get to lock lips with the heartthrob.

Though it’s great to see more feminist Barbie, Robbie did admit that lack of love scenes ‘didn’t feel like a win’ for her.

She told People: "All of my girlfriends were like, ‘Well you did a whole movie with him and you don’t kiss? What’s wrong with you? I thought you were kind of in charge on this one!’”

“I was like, ‘I know, I can’t check that one off [my list]',” Robbie joked, referring to her impressive co-stars over the years, which have included Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio.

If you can’t get enough of Gosling though, be sure to check out Barbie while it’s still in cinemas.

Topics: Barbie, Celebrity, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, TV And Film, Parenting

Katherine Sidnell

Katherine is an entertainment journalist with a love of all things nerdy. Starting out writing Doctor Who fan fiction as a kid, she has gone on to interview the likes of Matt Damon, James May and Dua Lipa to name a few. Published in The Sun, The Daily Mail and Evening Standard - she now joins Ladbible as resident nerd in chief.

@ksidnell