The star and producer said she bought Ryan a “present every day”.

By Patrick Cremona

Published: Sunday, 16 July 2023 at 12:00 am


Margot Robbie has joked that she “bribed” Ryan Gosling into taking on the role of Ken in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie.

As well as starring in the title role, Robbie served as a producer on the highly anticipated film, and in a new interview with the New York Times she outlined the strategy she adopted to convince her co-star to sign up.

“I just bribed him really,” she said. “That’s the basis of our relationship. ‘Just come do the Barbie movie, I’ll buy you a present every day.’”

And Gosling himself confirmed that this really is what happened – explaining that “There was suddenly this pink present from Barbie to Ken, every day, for a very long shoot.”

He added: “It felt unsustainable. I thought this has to stop at some point. There were times on set where I got a Puka shell necklace.

“[I said] ‘Thank you very much. You don’t have to keep doing this. I’m sure you have other things to do, like produce a movie and star in a movie, and run a company. And produce other people’s films. You don’t have to keep concerning yourself with this!’”

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Barbie’s release is one of the most hotly awaited cinematic events of 2023, especially given it opens on the same day as Christopher Nolan’s latest flick Oppenheimer, with many fans planning on watching both films back to back.

In addition to Robbie and Gosling, the Barbie cast boasts a number of big-name stars, with Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, Dua Lipa and Issa Rae appearing as different Barbies, and Ncuti Gatwa, Simu Liu, and Scott Evans starring as various Kens.

Barbie arrives in cinemas on Friday 21st July 2023. Visit our Film hub for more news and features or find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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