Ryan Gosling says his daughters were ‘huge inspiration’ for his role as Ken in Barbie movie

‘They’ve seen a lot pieces of [the film], and helped me a lot with it,’ he says about his children

Ryan Gosling has revealed that his daughters, who he shares with longtime partner Eva Mendes, were a “huge inspiration” for his role as Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie.

The 42-year-old spoke about his children, Esmeralda, eight, and Amada, seven, during an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Sunday, while attending the premiere of Barbie in Los Angeles. During the conversation, he shared his daughters’ candid thoughts about his role in the film, which features Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie.

“It was, I think, weird enough for them that I played Ken anyway,” he said. “That I might just hold off on them seeing the full Ken-ergy.”

However, according to Gosling, his children have not only seen some of Barbie, but they also “helped” him create his character.

“They’ve seen a lot pieces of [the film], and helped me a lot with it,” he said. “They were a huge inspiration for me.”

When asked if his daughters thought the new movie was funny, the Notebook star quipped: “Yeah, unless it wasn’t. And then I worked on it…They’re brilliant comedians.”

While at the Barbie premiere on Sunday, Gosling also gave a subtle shoutout to Mendes with his outfit. The actor walked the pink carpet in a pink Gucci suit, which he accessorised with a chain necklace that had the letter “E”, which stood for Eva, dangling from it. The typeface on the necklace was used for the film.

While Mendes wasn’t at the premiere on Sunday, she has previously revealed that she would rather avoid doing press to spend time with her children.

“What people don’t know about me is that I love being home,” she said in an interview with Shape in 2017. “Instead of hitting the red carpet, I’d rather be with our girls.”

In April, Mendes also revealed why she would not be joining Gosling on the pink carpet, with the Hitch star explaining that she and her partner “don’t do those things together”.

Last month, Gosling, who’s been dating Mendes since 2011, shared some rare comments about fatherhood. During his cover story interview with GQ, he revealed that, prior to his relationship with Mendes, he didn’t think much about becoming a father. However, he confessed that this all changed when Mendes told him she was pregnant.

“Eva said she was pregnant,” he recalled. “I would never want to go back, you know? I’m glad I didn’t have control over my destiny in that way, because it was so much better than I ever had dreamed for myself.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Gosling clarified previous comments he made about the moment Mendes learned she was pregnant. While he maintained that he “wasn’t thinking about kids” before they met, Gosling said: “After I met Eva, I realised that I just didn’t want to have kids without her.”

“I was looking for her, you know?” he added. When asked if he was aware that he was searching all his life for his current partner, Gosling replied: “No. But it all makes sense now.”

While they have been more open about their relationship in recent years, Gosling and Mendes have still kept their children and family life largely out of the spotlight.