Ryan Gosling 'Doubted' His 'Ken-ergy' Before 'Barbie': 'They Conjured This Out of Me Somehow'

Barbie is in theaters July 21

Ryan Gosling is bringing the "Ken-ergy."

As Barbie writer-director Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie and Gosling, 42, offered a preview of the upcoming Barbie movie at CinemaCon 2023 in Las Vegas Tuesday, Gosling admitted he was not so sure about playing Ken at first.

"I only knew Ken from afar. I didn't know Ken from within, and if I'm being really honest I doubted my Ken-ergy," the La La Land actor told an audience during Warner Bros. Pictures' presentation at the convention. "I didn't see it, but Margot and Greta, they conjured this out of me somehow."

Gosling is set to star opposite Robbie's Barbie as Ken, Barbie's male companion based on the Mattel toy of the same name. During the presentation, the actor joked: "It was like I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits and rollerblading down Venice Beach."

"It came on like a light scarlet fever. Then I woke up one day and was like, 'Why is there fake tanner in my sheets? What just happened?' " Gosling joked.

Related:Eva Mendes Asked to Keep Ryan Gosling's Ken Underwear from Barbie Movie: 'I'm Wearing It Right Now'

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"To work with this group— they're all brilliant and it was so exciting and then to be conjured in such a way was really special," he added.

Gosling's casting as Ken in Barbie has been the subject of much fascination during the film's production, with the actor more than once joking about his "Ken-ergy" over the last year.

Issa Rae recently told PEOPLE she "can't confirm or deny anything" about the movie, when asked for details at AT&T's Game Ball Experience.

"You're not about to get me in trouble," she said with a laugh at the event. "I'm going to let Greta and Margot take the lead, and I'm shutting the f--- up and sitting back."

Related:Is the Barbie Movie Somehow Connected to The Wizard of Oz? Fans Say Yes!

The official full-length trailer for Barbie debuted earlier this month, showing Robbie as the famous blonde with Gosling's Ken, as well as several more Barbies and Kens.

The same day the trailer was released, the film's official Instagram account unveiled a variety of character posters in which they revealed who everyone is playing.e

Barbie hits theaters July 21.

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