Ryan Gosling Reveals Why He Originally Said ‘100% No’ to Singing ‘I’m Just Ken’ at 2024 Oscars

Ryan Gosling is revealing why his epic “I’m Just Ken” performance at the 2024 Oscars almost didn't happen.

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 11, Gosling, 43, revealed that he initially wasn’t keen on performing his Barbie song at the March 10 ceremony and said, “100% no" when he was first asked.

“There’s a lot of ways that could go wrong,” he explained.

After host Fallon, 49, read the many positive reviews about Gosling’s performance, the Barbie actor joked, “Imagine the reviews I would have had if I’d have The Roots,” referencing the late-night talk show’s house band.

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Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance featured him dancing in a hot pink suit and black cowboy hat while joined onstage by Mark Ronson and his fellow "Kens" Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

In addition, the performance included Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen onstage, while Gosling handed his mic to audience members Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, America Ferrera and Barbie director Greta Gerwig.

Speaking to host Fallon, Gosling also opened up about his daughters’ take on him performing “I’m Just Ken.”

“Dad’s kenning again,” Gosling joked about the reactions of daughters Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 7, whom he shares with longtime partner  Eva Mendes, 50. ”I mean it was their interest in Barbie and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all of this.”

He continued, “It’s really been a team effort. 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.”

“You know it’s just like a lot of fake tan stains around the house, bleached hair,” Gosling added about his role. “So I wanted to them to come to the dress rehearsal just to give it some kind of context for what had been going on."

He also revealed that his performance “was their first” live music show to watch. 

“They knew all the choreography better than I do,” Gosling joked. “And the songs, oh my God, they’re backstage kind of like showing me that you know,” he added while reenacting “jazz hands.”

After Gosling’s performance at the Oscars, Mendes wrote on Instagram that she needed her man to come back home and put the kids in bed.

“You took Ken all the way to the Oscars, RG. Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed. 💋," she wrote sweetly at the time.