Ryan Gosling sings ‘I’m Just Ken’ in music video featuring Slash on guitar
As if excitement surrounding the new Barbie movie hasn’t reached peak levels yet, a new exclusive music video featuring Ryan Gosling as Ken and Slash from Guns N’ Roses on guitar is sure to nudge people over the edge.
The anticipation is exceptionally high regarding Gosling’s depiction of the doll. According to Gerwig and Barbie co-star Margot Robbie, Gosling was the only choice for the role.
“It’s Barbie and Ken,” Gosling’s character tearfully emphasises at the beginning of the video, in what is surely a tease of a pivotal emotional moment in the film. “There is no ‘just Ken’,” Ken continues.
The video boasts a colourful array of pastel backgrounds, multiple Kens and Barbies, and a range of activities ranging from surfing to space exploration and what looks like a moderately epic battle scene.
All the while, Ken performs his solo song, which laments being friend-zoned by Barbie (“I’m just Ken, where I see love she sees a friend”) and comments on the state of his own “blonde fragility”.
At the LA premiere of Barbie on Sunday, 9th July, producer and songwriter Mark Ronson, who co-wrote ‘I’m Just Ken’ with Andrew Wyatt for the film’s soundtrack, confirmed that Slash plays guitar on the song.
In an interview with Variety, Ronson explained how his “all-time hero” ended up working on the film: “I sent him the song, and he was like, ‘This is a good song… cool, I’ll play on it.’ He kills it, he plays the solo at the end and the rhythm parts. It’s wonderful.”
Watch the video below.
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