Ryan Gosling claims everyone “gave zero f*cks” about Ken before he took the role

During a recent award ceremony, Ryan Gosling declared that no one “gave zero f*cks” about Ken, his now iconic Barbie character.

There’s truly so much to love about Greta Gerwig’s girl-power inspired summer blockbuster Barbie from its cast to its themes to its incredible soundtrack.

The almost two hour film follows Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they travel to the real world to discover that there’s much more beyond their roles as mere dolls.

Both Robbie and Gosling have gone out of their way to show how close they are to their on-screen counterparts, with Gosling going so far as to declare no one even cared about the character of Ken before he played him during a recent awards ceremony.

Gosling jokes that Ken was a nobody before he played him

The actor recently appeared at Variety’s Hitmakers event where he presented producer Mark Ronson, the mind behind the Barbie soundtrack, with the Soundtrack of the Year award.

During his speech hyping up Ronson, Gosling notes, “Up until six months ago, the entire world gave zero fucks about Ken. He was just this 70-year-old crotchless doll with no house, no car, no job, and no voice, and look at him now!”

“He has a Grammy-nominated power ballad and the voice of an angel. What happened? It’s simple. He met Mark Ronson, and his life changed forever. But he wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last.”

Gosling went on to say that Ronson was the perfect example of what “Kenergy” looks like in the real world.

“What is ‘Kenergy,’ other than a word I made up on a press junket so I didn’t have to really answer any questions, that’s haunted me ever since?” Gosling explained, “Well, it’s a noun, that I’ve come to understand as the strength and vitality required for a sustained period of ‘Kenning.’”

Gosling continued stating, “What’s ‘Kenning,’ other than another random word I made up? It’s a verb. To Ken is to give more than is necessary or required to reflect so that others might shine. I don’t know how to better describe Mark Ronson better than that.”

Ronson’s Barbie produced soundtrack contains a multitude of hits including Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Lizzo’s “Pink,” Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” and the Ice Spice/Nicki Minaj collab “Barbie World.”

You can check out our other Barbie 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 | 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