Actor Ryan Gosling has responded to trolls who criticised him being cast as Ken in the upcoming “Barbie” movie, citing his age as the issue. Gosling, who is 42, responded to the criticism in a recent interview with GQ, stating that if people “don’t want to play with [his] Ken, there are many other Kens to play with”.
Gosling found the discourse around his casting amusing and ironic, given that fans had not previously cared about Ken before his casting. The star went on to explain, “Barbie never f–ked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.” Despite his comments, Gosling jokingly referred to himself as Ken’s “representative”, expressing his newfound care for the character.
When the trailer for the Greta Gerwig-directed “Barbie” movie was released in April, several fans expressed concern over Gosling’s age and suitability for the role of Ken. One fan on Twitter wrote, “[R]yan gosling is too old to be playing ken i’m sorry his wrinkles are taking me out of the experience”. Another said, “I like Ryan Gosling but idk [I don’t know] why he looks a little too old and dry. Not sure if it’s because of the hair or tan but he needed some moisturizer”. A third hater tweeted, “Ryan gosling is too ugly and too old to be playing ken, they should’ve casted (sic) henry cavill or chris evans bye”.
Despite the criticism, many other fans defended Gosling’s casting, pointing out that Ken is actually 62 years old, while Gosling is only 42. One supporter tweeted, “Ken is 62 years old. @RyanGosling is only 42. So let’s not talk about who’s too old to be playing whom.” Another said, “For the record I like Ryan Gosling as Ken. No one cared about Ken and now suddenly everyone cares if it’s a 40 year old actor playing Ken?”
“Barbie” is set to hit cinemas on July 21 and will also star Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera and Scott Evans.
Leave a Reply