"Dad’s Kenning Again": Ryan Gosling describes daughter's reaction to him performing 'I’m Just Ken' at 2024 Oscars

Ryan Gosling opened up about his I'm Just Ken performance at the 2024 Oscars during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 11.

Ryan Gosling has appeared in a plethora of films over the years, collectively grossing over $1.9 billion worldwide. While he is known for keeping his family life out of the media spotlight, he couldn't resist talking about his two daughters, Esmeralda and Amanda's reactions while discussing his performance.

The Canadian actor talked about his daughters' involvement and their reaction to his live act.

"Dad’s Kenning again," Gosling described his daughters' reaction to his performance.

In 2023, Ryan Gosling played Ken in the fantasy comedy Barbie, which was the highest-earning film of the year and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

One of the major standouts in the film was the song 'I'm Just Ken,' which stars Barbie's anxiety-ridden beta-boyfriends, the Kens. When I'm Just Ken was announced as one of the nominees for Best Original Song, fans became curious whether Gosling would follow the Oscars' tradition of each nominated song in that category being performed live in the ceremony.

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Ryan Gosling almost said no to performing I'm Just Ken at the Oscars

Ryan Gosling discussed his record-breaking live performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the Oscars on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 11. In his interview, the Canadian discussed his daughters’ reactions to his rehearsals and the live performance. Ryan Gosling has two daughters, Amanda and Esmeralda, with his longtime partner, Eva Mendes.

His five and seven-year-old girls would attend the practice sessions and participate in the musical process. By the end, Gosling confessed that Esmeralda and Amanda knew more about the choreography than their father.

"It was their interest in Barbie and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all of this. It’s really been a team effort. And they were on the film, and they came to set when I filmed the number. But it’s also been like a lot of this has no context for them."

To everyone's surprise, Gosling revealed that his initial reaction was a “100% no” when the Academy approached him for the performance. The actor thought that a live performance at the Oscars could result in a disaster in more ways than one.

"There’s a lot of ways that could go wrong."

However, it was as perfect as it could've ever been. Covered from head to toe in pink, Ryan Gosling started singing 'I'm Just Ken' while sitting in the audience behind Barbie's star Marbot Robbie. The actor then walked to the stage and was joined by musicians and other fellow Kens, i.e., Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, and Ncuti Gatwa.

96th Annual Academy Awards - Show (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

After a while, Gosling returned to the audience and held the mic in front of Barbie's Greta Gerwig, America Ferrera, and Margot Robbie, all of whom started singing with him. The Canadian actor also brought his La La Land mojo back by making co-star Emma Stone sing along.

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Ryan Gosling plays an action choreographer in his next film, The Fall Guy

Ryan Gosling will play an aging action choreographer in his upcoming film, The Fall Guy. Directed by David Leitch, it is an action-comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.

The film follows Gosling as Colt Seavers, an action choreographer who works on a movie directed by Colt's girlfriend Jody Moreno. Disaster strikes when the movie’s star, Tom Ryder, goes missing from the sets, and the onus falls on Seavers to find the actor and save the film and his girlfriend’s career.

The film had its initial screening on March 12, 2024, and will be released in the US and Canada on May 3, 2024. The Fall Guy has also broken the record for the most canon rolls performed in a car.