Ryan Gosling believes there are a lot of hypocrites when it comes to Ken

Despite the fact that Ryan Gosling is the world’s foremost expert on Ken-ergy, there are some people out there who didn’t think he was right for the Barbie movie. This contingent was vocal enough to make headlines at the New York Post, and therefore reach Gosling’s ears. However few this minority of naysayers may have been, hearing you’re not good enough to play a guy whose only job is “beach” might tick you off just a little bit.

“I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with,” Gosling tells GQ in a new profile. He later adds: “It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?”

Everyone was “fine” with Ken having “a job that is nothing,” Gosling argues, “But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never fucked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.”

Haters, you may have managed to hurt Ryan Gosling’s feelings a tiny bit, but you will not make him take this job too seriously. “I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative,” he jokes. “‘Ken couldn’t show up to receive this award, so I’m here to accept it for him.’”

The thing is, much as Barbie brings back memories for kids everywhere, Ken has stirred up something for Gosling about his past as a child star. “There’s something about this Ken that really, I think, relates to that version of myself. Just, like, the guy that was putting on Hammer pants and dancing at the mall and smelling like Drakkar Noir and Aqua Net-ing bangs,” the actor shares. “I owe that kid a lot. I feel like I was very quick to distance myself from him when I started making more serious films. But the reality is that, like, he’s the reason I have everything I have.”

Playing Ken put him back in touch with his past self: “I really had to go back and touch base with that little dude, and say thank you, and ask for his help.” Once again, it sounds like Gosling was actually the perfect man for the job.