TORONTO, ONTARIO – JUNE 28: Ryan Gosling attends “Barbie” Canadian Press Day on June 28, 2023 in … [+]
Can you feel the Kenergy? Barbie director Greta Gerwig revealed that Ryan Gosling’s iconic dance sequence to “I’m Just Ken” was almost a no-go in the biggest film of the year.
During her Screen Talk at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, Gerwig discussed how the dance sequence in The Barbie Movie came to be. The director stated that she was asked in a “big meeting” whether the dance scene was necessary, according to Variety.
“It just said in the script, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance,’” Gerwig told Succession creator Jesse Armstrong. “There was a big meeting that was like, ‘Do you need this?’ And I was like, ‘Everything in me needs this.’ They were like, ‘What do you even mean? What is a dream ballet?’ And I was like, ‘A dream ballet? Where do I begin!’”
Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling at the premiere of “Barbie” held at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on … [+]
The Little Women (2019) and Lady Bird director credited “Singing in the Rain” as one of her main inspirations for the scene because the musical has “a dream ballet inside of a dream ballet.”
“I was like, if people could follow that in ‘Singing in the Rain,’ I think we’ll be fine. I think people will know what this is. So that was the big reference point,” she continued in the conversation. “Even though everything felt right to me and was giving me so much joy in the way we were doing it, it was also like, ‘Oh no, this could be just terrible, but now I’m committed.’”
Gerwig also revealed that she sneakily went around to different theaters around NYC when the movie first came out. “On the opening weekend, I was in New York City and I went around to different theaters and stood in the back, and also I turned up the volume if I felt it was playing at maybe not the perfect level,” Gerwig said. “It was the most thrilling thing.”
Aside from the iconic dance sequence in the film, the track “I’m Just Ken,” from Barbie Movie: The Album, found instant success on the music charts. It debuted at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 5, 2023 — officially making Gosling a Hot 100-charting artist. It also opened at No. 4 on Hot Rock Songs and No. 5 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, as well as No. 39 on Digital Song Sales, according to Billboard.
On September 2, The Barbie Movie became the world’s highest-grossing movie in 2023 after more than a month in theaters. The film also surpassed Marvel’s Avengers to become the 11th top-earning film of all time in terms of domestic sales.
The Barbie Movie also holds the records for Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing domestic release and the biggest domestic opening ever for a non-superhero film or sequel. The film also made Gerwig the highest-grossing female director of all time at the domestic box office.
