Last year, Ryan Gosling showed up at CinemaCon in Vegas to kick off the Barbie era in a pink bomber over a t-shirt that read “Greta Gerwig” in Barbie font. His hair was Ken-blonde, his skin was Ken-bronzed, and it was basically the first time we were introduced to the word “Kenergy”, remember that?
He kept this up through the press tour, through award season, he took Ken alllll the way to the Oscars where on Sunday night, he performed in a pink studded suit with 65 other Kens and brought the house down, instantly becoming Oscar history, and securing our unwavering devotion for his commitment and respect and for how seriously he took this unserious character/doll/.
Now that the curtain has closed on Ken, Ryan is modelling new merch, representing another unsung hero, or unsung heroes, and launching another cycle of promotion for his next project: The Fall Guy.
He and the cast and crew, including director David Leitch, and co-stars Emily Blunt, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, and Hannah Waddingham premiered the film at SXSW this week and as you can see, Ryan’s replaced his pink bomber with a red one. Suddenly he’s the ultimate pitchman:
I say “suddenly” because while there was a time when Ryan would dutifully show up for press, it’s not like it was his favourite thing ever. With Barbie though, there was joy, there was enthusiasm, an eagerness to play along. And that’s carried over to The Fall Guy. He looks like he’s having a great time.
On Barbie it may have had something to do with the fact that he was making a movie his daughters cared about, as he told PEOPLE this week that:
"They are such a huge part of this for me...it was my girl's interest in Barbie and disinterest in Ken that got me into this in the first place. It was beautiful to have them there at the end."
Having a family connection to the project seems to have made the entire experience that much more special for him – and as audience members and observers, we could feel that. Ryan Gosling was not leaving any room for anyone to say that he was embarrassed about being Ken. In fact our only takeaway was the pride he had in being part of the movie and being associated with the character.
With The Fall Guy, the “character” is stunt actors – he plays one in the film, director David Leitch used to be one before he started directing, and at a special screening last night in LA, Ryan took the opportunity to recognise the skills and contributions of Logan Halladay, the stunt actor who steps in for him on this movie.
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt introduce a screening of #TheFallGuy in Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/vNQ6WZXQTg
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 14, 2024
Once again, it’s a GREAT look for him. And as David Leitch said, this movie is “not just a celebration of action films but a celebration of the stunts and stunt people behind the scenes, the unsung heroes who really do risk their lives to bring you some of the most memorable sequences in film, and the hard work they put in and the joy they have doing it.”
Right from the jump, then, no pun intended, Ryan’s showing us how he’ll be showing up for this film and who he’s showing up for. Which portends, in my opinion, another enthusiastic and engaged press tour which is good news for everyone. The studio obviously wants this and will benefit from it, but it’s also fun for us to see him turn on the charm, and embrace his movie star status and all its attendant responsibilities…which include returning to host Saturday Night Live next month.
It was confirmed yesterday, Ryan will host on April 13 with musical guest Chris Stapleton. This will be Ryan’s third time at SNL and speaking of SNL, I just last night caught up on last weekend’s episode with Josh Brolin which was hilarious, SO good! The strongest episode of the season so far.
During his two previous visits to 30 Rock, Ryan was willing to play. Most people remember him breaking during the Close Encounter sketch with Kate McKinnon, his eventual co-star in Barbie, but for me it was the Papyrus font. I’ll never, ever forget Ryan Gosling and Papyrus:
Will we get a Papyrus sequel? After all, there’s an Avatar sequel now. I can’t wait for this episode!
