Ryan Gosling’s Portrayal Of Ken Was Inspired By The Bachelorette

Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Ken in Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking Barbie is considered a highlight among many fans. However, the actor’s inspiration for the role came from an unlikely source. Appearing on the SmartLess podcast, Gerwig shared that while discussing the character of Ken with Gosling during the early days of production, he compared the iconic doll to contestants on The Bachelorette.

“When the woman isn’t around. They don’t know what to do with themselves. They’re doing, like, push-ups and they kind of are competitive with each other and if one guy wears glasses and then another guy wears glasses he’s like, no you took my thing, I’m the guy with glasses,’” Gosling is said to have told the film’s director.

Speaking to podcast hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, Gerwig added that, although she’s not familiar with The Bachelor franchise, she is a huge fan of reality TV dating shows such as Netflix’s Love Is Blind. “I love it so much. I love people falling in love on television [and] in their hearts. It just makes me so happy,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Academy Award nominee also recalled how she wrote the character of Ken with Gosling in mind, sharing that she knew he had “funny rhythms” despite never having met him. “In writing we cast Ryan. We wrote his name into the script,” Gerwig revealed. “When we handed them the script the studio was like, ‘Oh that’s so wonderful that you know Ryan.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Ryan. I’ve never met Ryan.’”

Following the release of Barbie on July 21, Gerwig’s casting instincts appear to have paid off, as the film has enjoyed both critical and commercial success — grossing a massive $377 million worldwide during its opening weekend.