Barbie‘s pop ballad sequence of “I’m Just Ken” was the comedy film’s standout moment. When the news broke out that Ryan Gosling would perform his Oscar-nominated song at the ceremony, we predicted that his performance would be the 96th Oscars‘ most memorable moment. It turns out Gosling planned every detail to create an unforgettable performance.
Ryan Gosling‘s “I’m Just Ken” number Kenergized everyone with its many eye-opening elements like his pink suit, the 62 dancing Kens, the Slash guitar solo, and handing the mike to Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, and Emma Stone. According to Variety, the Canadian actor planned out everything through Zoom meetings with Greta Gerwig’s creative vision, Oscars producer Molly McNearney, choreographer Mandy Moore, and “I’m Just Ken” co-songwriter Mark Ronson. Even the homage to Marilyn Monroe‘s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” was Gosling’s idea.
“He was pretty clear about his overall structure of it,” said Moore. “He wanted to start in the audience, come up see Mark, see Andrew [Wyatt the co-producer], ignite the Ken-delabras and then join the 10 dejected Kens on the stairs. From there he wanted the rest of the number to evolve as if Kens were coming from everywhere, ‘Calling All Kens.’ Eventually ending in a huge celebration revealing Slash.”
Greta Gerwig’s biggest wish was to get everyone out of their seats to sing along done by putting the lyrics up on the screen. Mandy Moore explained it was vital for the Drive actor to include his Barbie ladies as part of his song.
“He said, ‘I really need those ladies in the front because I’m gonna go over to them. I want them to sing.’”
Gosling even planned the exact line he wanted Emma Stone to sing and his consensual kiss of the cameraman’s hand.
How long did Ryan Gosling rehearse for?
Rehearsals for Ryan Gosling’s singing and dancing started four weeks before the big day. The practice sessions, however, were a tighter schedule.
“We only had two six-hour days to record and rehearse everything,” said music director Rickey Minor. “After that, there’s only one extra day to record with talent. We make adjustments and we mix it and get it ready for the performance.”
The original Kens in Barbie participated in the performance as well like Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, and Ncuti Gatwa. However, these actors only had a couple of days to rehearse.
“I’m still processing it, to be honest,” said Liu. “I think I’m in shock still. I kind of blacked out up there. I didn’t know if I did any of the choreography right? I just knew vaguely where I had to be. Greta was screaming, she was so happy. I was just like, ‘You know what, this is a big moment. I don’t know what movie I was auditioning for up here, maybe it’s some sort of musical?’”
The performance of “I’m Just Ken” was ultimately a huge success for the performers and everyone watching. Everyone should be very proud of the hard work that was put into making this Best Original Song number special. It also proves Ryan Gosling needs to put more of his directing skills to future projects.
