Barbie star Ncuti Gatwa overcame “impostor syndrome” by filming with Ryan Gosling

Barbie star Ncuti Gatwa revealed that he overcame his “imposter syndrome” thanks to filming with Ryan Gosling.

Greta Gerwig’s pink dream masterpiece Barbie has truly become the biggest movie of 2023 so far. The film has earned over $1.4 billion at the box office at the time of writing.

While there’s so much to love about the movie, from its fantastic sets to its unique soundtrack, the biggest drawing factor must be the cast. Barbie’s stars include A-list celebrities like Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

However, during a recent interview, one cast member — Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa — revealed that, while the cast and crew of Barbie were welcoming, he felt a sense of imposter syndrome while filming.

Gatwa says Barbie cast helped lessen his anxieties

Gatwa recently sat down with Elle UK as he was named the Modern Pioneer for the Elle Style Awards. During the interview, the Barbie star discussed how his castings in projects like Sex Education, Barbie, and the upcoming Doctor Who was seen as “box-ticking.”

“First of all, you don’t know anything about me. Secondly, tick fucking boxes! People need to be fucking seen. What are you going to do, tell the same stories?” Gatwa said, “Have the same people fronting things for all of eternity? Representation and inclusivity and branching out… it enriches us all.”

However, though he is incredibly confident about his place in these projects on the outside, on the inside, Gatwa expressed that he was “such a mess” as he deals with “so much impostor syndrome. [He has] so many insecurities.”

Filming Barbie seemed only to heighten his anxieties, as Gatwa explained: “I was so nervous I hardly spoke for the first month [on set]. There was a time when I was talking to Greta, and I turned around, and Ryan Gosling was looking at me, and his eyes were so blue that I just… fell over. I just drowned in his eyes.”

However, filming on the set of a woman-led production seemed to help lessen Gatwa’s fears. The cast made him feel welcomed with various sleepovers, movie nights, and a trip to see Magic Mike orchestrated by Robbie.

Though Gatwa seemed to be grappling with a lot of negative emotions at the start of filming, Gerwig, Robbie, Gosling, and the rest of the cast/crew led him to note that Barbie was “the most kind, empathetic set [he’s] ever been on.”

The Barbie movie is in theaters worldwide now. Check out our other coverage below:

Barbie Movie review: She’s everything, and so is Ken | Barbie ending explained: Does Barbie become human? | Best Easter eggs in the Barbie movie | Barbie 2: Everything we know so far | Does Barbie have a post-credits scene? | Barbie reviews: First reactions praise “cinematic triumph” | Is the new Barbie movie for kids? | Barbie has a Snyder Cut joke and fans are already angry | Barbie movie soundtrack: All songs, artists, & more | Barbie banned in Vietnam over infamous “nine dash line | The 33 movies that inspired Barbie | Barbie movie cast: All actors and characters