Action film, romance, musicals… Ryan Gosling has done it all and is now a respected actor in Hollywood. But his most difficult role to play may not be the one you might expect.
For a long time, we have unfairly reduced Ryan Gosling to his good looks or his silent roles in the Drive. Yet he is one of the most diverse actors of his generation. Be convincing with very few lines of dialogue and carry an action film on your shoulders? It takes more talent than it seems to get there. Tap dancing, singing, dancing, playing the piano? It is also not within everyone’s reach. To be sometimes moving in romantic dramas or to have impeccable timing in crazy comedies without being afraid of ridicule? Once again, success depends on the quality of the actor or actress who takes on the roles.
Through hard work, Ryan Gosling has definitively established himself as a jack-of-all-trades actor in Hollywood. However, he himself admits, the roles are not always easy to carry or embody. In an interview with W magazine, the actor confided what was the most complicated role of his career. And it was not the silence of Drivethe pianist of La La LandNeil Armstrong in First Man, the replicant of Blade Runner 2049 nor any of the action roles of his career.
Ryan Gosling admitted that he immediately thought that Ken’s role in barbie, for which he was unanimously acclaimed to the point of setting fire to the Oscar stage, was going to be “the most difficult to perform of[his]career”. In the interview, he explains his thought process when he was asked to play this atypical character who discovers the patriarchy after years of being the second role in Barbie’s life: “how to play a crotchless doll aged 70 years? You can’t do research to study this role. There is no one you can imitate, no documentary to watch, no book has ever been written about Ken. You are alone on board.” . Moreover, when it was announced that Ryan Gosling would play this role, this decision was surprisingly criticized by Internet users who considered the forty-year-old “too old” to play the doll.[sa}carrière”Dansl’interviewilexpliquesoncheminementdepenséelorsqu’onluiaproposédejouercepersonnageatypiquequidécouvrelepatriarcataprèsdesannéesàêtrelesecondrôledanslaviedeBarbie:”commentjouerunepoupéesansentrejambeâgéede70ans? Vousnepouvezpasfairederecherchespourétudiercerôle Iln’yapersonnequel’onpeutimiterpasdedocumentaireàregarderaucunlivren’ajamaisétéécritsurKen Vousêtesseulàbord” D’ailleurslorsqu’ilaétéannoncéqueRyanGoslingincarneraitcerôlecettedécisionaétéétonnammentcritiquéepardesinternautesquiestimaientlequadragénaire”tropvieux”pourjouerlapoupée
Difficult for an actor to play a character without a story and without personality. But Ryan Gosling also had what few actors can enjoy in their career: all the freedom of interpretation possible. And it paid off, since the actor is hilarious in barbie, revealing an aspect of his talents already explored, but too little exploited: his sense of comic timing and his legendary self-deprecation. For the role of Ken, the 43-year-old actor was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2024, which he certainly did not win, but his cover of “I’m Just Ken” performed for the occasion was the best moment of the ceremony. Like what !