Ryan Gosling may have shared the stage with a troupe of dancing Kens at the 2024 Oscars Sunday, but there’s only one Barbie in his life: Eva Mendes.
And even though the Best Supporting Actor nominee for “Barbie” walked the red carpet with his sister and parents instead of his wife — the Hollywood honeys rarely make public appearances together — Mendes, 50, was backstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles as Gosling, 43, was preparing to bring the house down with his performance of “I’m Just Ken.”
In fact, before the ceremony, Mendes posted an Instagram reel — with “I’m Just Ken” playing, naturally — where she was standing outside Gosling’s dressing room with the caption: “Always be my man.”
And after Gosling’s performance, Mendes gave us another behind-the-scenes Insta-peek with a pic of her rocking the same crystal-studded pink suit jacket and black cowboy hat that her husband wore during his show-stopping number.
And this time the caption read: “You took Ken all the way to the Oscars, RG. Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed.”
Mendes and Gosling have two daughters: Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 7.
In the battle of the “Barbie” tunes, “What Was I Made For?” was the far-and-away favorite over “I’m Just Ken” in the Best Original Song race.
Indeed, the tune went on to make singer Billie Eilish, 22, and her producer brother Finneas, 26, the youngest two-time Oscar winners in history.
(This after the unstoppable siblings had already earned the prestigious Song of the Year prize at the Grammys last month.)
But Gosling still won the night when he brought all of his Kenergy to the stage alongside his fellow “Barbie” Kens — Simi Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa.
It was unlike any musical number the Academy Awards had seen before.
Gosling turned it into a high-kicking Kenfest featuring “I’m Just Ken” co-writer and co-producer Mark Ronson, Guns N’ Roses guitar god Slash and an epic group karaoke that included everyone from “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie to Best Actress winner Emma Stone.
With a fabulously over-the-top number that harked back to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” it hardly mattered that “I’m Just Ken” went on to lose to “What Was I Made For?”
