Apparently, 'Barbie' Casting Directors Had to Tell the Kens to Stop Taking Their Shirts Off During A

May 2024 · 2 minute read

While the success of Barbie (and its female-fronted cast and crew) no doubt signifies a major win for women everywhere, there’s no denying that the film’s Kens — in all of their hammy, scene-stealing glory — added an extra layer of fun to an already joyful moving-watching experience. And while one would think that flexing would have been a vital part of the audition process for those hoping to play one of the perfectly manicured men, the film’s casting directors just opened up about all that really went down when searching for their main Kens, Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu.

According to Allison Jones and Lucy Bevan via The Credits, several of the actors who read for Ken opted to take their shirts off during auditions — even though it wasn’t required nor encouraged. 

Warner Bros.

“Before it became a go-to quote in the Barbie fandom lexicon, rival Ken’s challenge — 'I’ll beach you off any day, Ken' — was one of the film’s audition lines,” Bevan shared. “Those scenes were fun to audition. Some of the Kens would take off their T-shirts, and we were like, no, no, you don’t need to take off your T-shirt. But Simu [Liu] just nailed that [line] in the film.”

Although the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, told the casting directors that Ken didn’t have to look a certain way to land the part, she did want the actors to be able to truly embody the “sincerity” of a Ken doll.

“The thing that Greta did always stress was that none of these people were sarcastic or winking at the camera. They were really Kens and Barbies,” Jones explained, with Bevan adding, “There were certain scenes we used to audition, and the fine line between the comedy and sincerity of those characters is a difficult balance.”

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