A Scrapped Barbie Scene Would Have Had Ryan Gosling Fighting Off Faux Fur
Praising the "Barbie" movie isn't new. We've been doing it for months now, and with good reason. The Greta Gerwig-directed film (written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach) won over fans all around the world. Obviously, Margot Robbie was amazing as Barbie (all the Barbies were pretty much perfect), but it's really hard to beat the magic that is Ryan Gosling as Ken. Before the film came out, he was all over talk shows, speaking about "Kenergy" and generally promoting the plastic doll more than I ever saw when I still watched TV commercials. He's been a champion for the film and this role, and you'd think it didn't get better than that. Oh, my plastic friends, it can! And here, I must praise the film anew because of one moment that Gosling suggested.
That moment didn't make it into the final cut, and it's not in the digital or physical media extras. Nevertheless, as Gerwig explained during a recent appearance on "The Last Show with Stephen Colbert" (via Entertainment Weekly), there is footage of this awesomeness, which involves faux fur. She also revealed the reason that Ken wears a fur coat in the film to begin with.
Let's break open Ken's closet in the Mojo Dojo Casa House
The fake fur coat and bandana are pretty much the pinnacle of masculinity for Ken (before he figures the patriarchy is about more than horses), and as it turns out, Gosling was part of the decision to dress Ken this way. When Gerwig was asked if it was Gosling's idea, she explained, "Well, yes, we share a very deep love of Sly Stallone. And he wore wonderful coats. [Ryan and I] were texting back and forth pictures. So we decided that Ken should have this faux mink." Of course, now I want to see a "Barbie" short where a faux fur-enrobed Ken meets a faux fur-enrobed Sylvester Stallone for a discussion about beach. I am certain I'm not alone in this.
The scene Gosling had an idea for involved that very coat. As Gerwig noted:
"One of the ideas that Ryan had was that he would have a dance duet with his mink and that the mink would be fighting him, and then love him, and then fight him again, eventually defeat him, and that he would be birthed anew out of the mink. And somewhere there's a rehearsal footage of this."
I think even Barbie needs to see this scene
Just take a moment to let that sink in. First, this is a scene that Gosling actually ended up rehearsing, just in case. Second, there is footage of this "mink ballet" that Gerwig said they practiced for a week. I'm not sure if I can handle the last part where he is "birthed anew out of the mink" because my mind probably can't process that, but still. She added some praise for Gosling (though I think the fact that he came up with this scene in the first place is praise enough), saying, "[...] The thing is, even though it didn't end up being in the movie, it was that kind of openness and everybody bringing such brilliant, wild ideas that allowed it to happen in this form."
That's lovely, and I'm very glad to hear it, but I want ... nay, I need the powers that be to listen to me: Give us the mink fight footage, you cowards! Ahem.
"Barbie" is currently streaming on Max.