Ryan Gosling admits saying '100 percent no' to 'I'm Just Ken' Oscars performance

Virgin Radio

12 Apr 2024, 15:45

Ryan Gosling has revealed he was originally “100 percent” against performing ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the Oscars.

The Barbie and The Fall Guy star’s performance became for many the main highlight of this year’s LA-based awards ceremony and has so far amassed over 12 million views on YouTube alone. 

But speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Gosling revealed he was really against the idea to begin with.

Asked by Fallon “When the Oscars asked you to perform, they call you and they go ‘Would you want to do ‘I’m Just Ken’?’ Do you immediately go. ‘Yeah, I have to do this.’ or no?” Ryan quickly answered “100 percent no!”

He then went on to confirm his response had been more like “Please don’t make me do this” than a positive one of excitement.

“There’s a lot of ways that it can go wrong,” he explained. But in the end the actor relented and ended up performing the memorable moment successfully to the awards show’s live audience and for everyone watching the ceremony from home.

Continuing to chat about his performance with Fallon, Ryan confirmed his daughters had joined him for rehearsals ahead of the final show. “Dad’s Ken-ing again,” he amusingly claimed was their reaction to his act.

He also said: “It was their interest in Barbie and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all of this. And yeah… it’s really been a team effort.

“They came to set when I filmed the number,” he added. “But it’s also been like a lot of this has no context for them. You know, it’s just like a lot of fake tan stains around the house… so I wanted them to come to the [Oscars] dress rehearsal just to give it some kind of context for what had been going on.

“They know all the choreography better than I do!” he then joked, after bemusedly admitting his performance was technically his children’s first concert.