ENTERTAINMENT
Did Ryan Gosling actually sing in Barbie?
The former Disney Channel “The Mickey Mouse Club” star sang on two songs in Barbie, “Push” as well as the celebrated “I’m Just Ken”.
Gosling, born in London, Ontario (Canada), gained popularity as a child star on Disney Channel’s ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ in the mid-nineties. His fame rose steadily, taking on small roles in other family programs and series like ‘Young Hercules.’ His film debut was in 2001, with ‘The Believer.’
After appearing in several films with little success, his breakthrough role came with ‘The Notebook’ in 2004. A performance that moved many and earned him awards like the Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Movie Award. In 2006, he played ‘Dan’ in ‘Half Nelson,’ earning his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
In 2007, he received a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ and starred alongside Anthony Hopkins in ‘Fracture.’ In 2010, he had another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for ‘Blue Valentine.’ In 2011, he received another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ and starred in ‘Drive,’ his first role in an action film. Additionally, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actor for ‘The Ides of March.’
In 2016, he achieved another major success with ‘La La Land’ alongside Emma Stone, a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe.
Barbie boom
Gosling played the role of Ken in Barbie, 2023′s highest-grossing film of the year with the movie nominated for eight Oscar Awards, including two mentions in the Best Original Song category: ‘I’m Just Ken’ and ‘What Was I Made For?’
Ryan Gosling was nominated in the best supporting actor category and ultimately the film was eclipsed by Oppenheimer with Barbie bagging just one award and that for Best Original Song, for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”.
Gosling sings
Many have doubted if the Canadian actually sings in the film but in the credits, Gosling is actually credited on the Barbie soundtrack for two tracks “Push” as well as “I’m Just Ken.”
Barbie album producer (and writer of ‘I’m Just Ken’), Mark Ronson spoke to Vanity Fair upon hearing Gosling sing.
“He really got [that] it had to walk this line of not being funny or parody,” and obviously, the song is also kind of ridiculous at times. So he was really amazing, and when he really did start hitting the big notes, I was like, ‘This dude is a vocal powerhouse.’”
The 43-year-old also performed the track at the Oscar ceremony in LA recently and was joined on stage by Ronson and iconic guitarist Slash of Guns n’ Roses fame delivering a full session of ‘Kenergy’.