Ryan Gosling Gets In N Out While Helping Jimmy Kimmel Get To The Oscars
It's a new year, and that means the Oscars are getting closer. The 96th Academy Awards are coming to ABC on March 10, and they're even starting a little earlier this year, slated to begin at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT. After all, the ceremony is always far too long, so handing out the little golden guys an hour earlier than usual means Hollywood can get the after-party started sooner, and isn't that what the Oscars are really about?
ABC's late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will again be hosting the show, which will likely avoid any new controversy out of the Oscars. Surely no one wants to deal with the host getting slapped on live television again. The only slapping that should be happening at the Oscars is slappin' da bass during the performances of the Best Original Song nominees, which will hopefully include Ryan Gosling doing a live rendition of "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie." Speaking of Mattel's plastic box office queen...
As we wait for the Oscars ceremony to arrive next month, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" debuted a nearly five-minute promo with the comedian lost in BarbieLand, trying to get back to Hollywood to host the awards. With the help of Helen Mirren as the narrator and Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie, Kimmel follows a map through the various Oscar nominees (even awkwardly including "The Zone of Interest") on the way back to Tinseltown. But McKinnon isn't the only "Barbie" star popping up in the promo. America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling are there to help bring it home.
Watch Jimmy Kimmel's Oscars promo from BarbieLand below!
Jimmy Kimmel meets Weird Barbie
This Oscars promo runs a little too long for its own good. Though there are some amusing gags to be found, including labeling Jimmy Kimmel as "Mid-Life Crisis Ken," this is the kind of thing that should have only been a couple of minutes. But kudos to the production team for pulling out all the stops to recreate the Weird Barbie house and mirror the same visual style that made Barbie's journey from BarbieLand to the real world such a delightful treat.
Once in Hollywood, Jimmy Kimmel arrives on a faux Oscars stage, but he now has a stowaway in Weird Barbie's car: Ryan Gosling in his signature fleece, tie-dye "I Am Kenough" hoodie, and he's celebrating with some In-N-Out. However, Gosling is playing up the blonde himbo angle of Ken, confusingly getting the fast food before he's won the award. But the actor also playfully scoffs at the idea of him winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor anyway, so we'll just let him enjoy that tasty burger.
Finally, America Ferrera also pops up to deliver a modified rendition of her famous "Barbie" monologue. But this time it's about the thankless job of hosting the Oscars. Though a bit on the nose, the updated speech isn't wrong about how difficult it is to host the Academy Awards, although the comparison to women feels like a rather ill-considered punchline to end on.
In the end, anything that gives us more of Ryan Gosling in comedic mode isn't going to upset me, especially if he's screaming in horror a the lack of a nomination for "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig.
The 96th Academy Awards begin at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT on March 10 on ABC.