News | Entertainment
4 Jan 2026 14:47
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Ryan Gosling said "100 per cent no" when asked to sing 'I'm Just Ken' at the 2024 Oscars

    The 43-year-old actor, who played Ken in director Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' movie, said he feared there was too much that could "wrong" with the performance when he was approached by the producers of this year's Academy Awards with the idea he should perform it on stage


    He said on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon': "(It was) 100 per cent no.

    "There's a lot of ways that could go wrong."

    When host Jimmy, 49, read positive reviews about Ryan's performance, he referenced the talk show host's house band when he jokingly replied: "Imagine the reviews I would have had if I'd have had The Roots."

    Ryan's 'I'm Just Ken' performance saw him dancing in a pink suit and black cowboy hat while joined onstage by the song's writer and producer Mark Ronson as well as his fellow movie 'Kens' - Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

    Ryan was also joined by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen, and at one point the actor handed his mic to audience members Margot Robbie - who played 'Barbie' in Greta's blockbuster - as well as Emma Stone, America Ferrera and Greta.

    Ryan - who has daughters Esmeralda Amada, nine, and Amada Lee, seven, with his long-time partner Eva Mendes, 50 - said his kids' reaction to his Oscars performance was: "Dad's Kenning again."

    He added about how his girls inspired him to take the Ken role: "I mean it was their interest in Barbie and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all of this.

    "It's really been a team effort. They were on the film and they came to set when I filmed the number but it's also been like a lot of this has no context for them.

    "You know it's just like a lot of fake tan stains around the house, bleached hair.

    "So I wanted to them to come to the dress rehearsal just to give it some kind of context for what had been going on."

    Ken also said his Oscars performance was his girls' first experience of live music, adding: "They knew all the choreography better than I do. And the songs, oh my God, they're backstage kind of like showing me (jazz hands), you know."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     01 Jan: If you get lost in the bush, can you really survive by drinking your own pee?
     31 Dec: Miley Cyrus pitches her songwriting skills to legendary filmmakers and Hollywood stars at events to get involved in movies
     31 Dec: Jamie Lee Curtis is glad she narrowly dodged fame as a child thanks to her late mom Janet Leigh
     31 Dec: Olivia Culpo is saving all her clothes for her daughter
     31 Dec: Billie Lourd has paid tribute to her grandmother Debbie Reynolds on the ninth anniversary of her death
     31 Dec: Toni Collette has praised Kate Winslet for bringing an "incredible sense of trust and freedom" to the set of Goodbye June
     31 Dec: Ashley Park dec lares crocheting as her personal Roman Empire
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Venus Williams is delighted to start her 33rd consecutive season on the WTA Tour in Auckland More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Cautious optimism from tech experts, in the wake of this week's ManageMyHealth cyber attack More...



     Today's News

    International:
    Donald Trump says US will run Venezuela for now after Nicolás Maduro's capture 14:17

    International:
    Pakistan's first woman to summit K2 sparks new wave of female climbers 14:17

    Law and Order:
    Otago Police are appealing for the public's help after a ute was stolen from a local address with the owner's dogs still inside 14:07

    Rugby:
    Venus Williams is delighted to start her 33rd consecutive season on the WTA Tour in Auckland 13:47

    Business:
    Cautious optimism from tech experts, in the wake of this week's ManageMyHealth cyber attack 13:27

    Living & Travel:
    Summer swimmers are urged to brush up on water safety, as the holiday drowning toll hits five 13:07

    National:
    Donald Trump loathes the courts. He’s following the autocrat playbook to sideline them 13:07

    International:
    How Louis Braille’s musical notation system remains relevant 200 years after its invention 13:07

    Motoring:
    State Highway 35 between Gisborne and Tolaga Bay, has now re-opened 12:37

    National:
    How Venezuela has been preparing for a US invasion for more than two decades 12:37


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd