Ryan Gosling Says He Was Surprised By the Reaction to His Shirtless Ken Photo from 'Barbie'

Ryan Gosling wasn’t expecting the internet to have such a strong reaction to his Barbie character.

During his appearance on Thursday night’s (July 21) episode of The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon began by showing a first look photo of the 41-year-old actor as Ken, which created quite a stir when it was released online a few months ago.

Click inside to see what Ryan said…

“I just want to ask you a few questions about this,” he said as the audience cheered. “It officially broke the internet… Were you surprised by the great reaction this photo got?”

“I was surprised how, you know, some people were clutching their pearls at my Ken as though they ever thought about Ken for a second before this,’ Ryan joked. “They never played with Ken. Nobody plays with Ken, man. Did you play with Ken?”

“He’s an accessory,” he noted. “And not even one of the cool ones.”

Ryan also discussed what led him to take on the role. He explained that director Greta Gerwig had offered him a chance to play the character, adding that the script was “the best script” he’d ever read.

“I walk out in the back yard and you know where I find Ken? Face down in the mud next to a squished lemon,” he said as Jimmy showed a photo. “I texted it to Greta and I said, ‘I shall be your Ken. For his story must be told.’”

Check out the full interview down below.

See all the latest photos of Ryan on the set of Barbie with Margot Robbie here.