It turns out that Ryan Gosling heavily considered depriving the world of his now-iconic Oscars performance of I’m Just Ken.
In an appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Tonight Show, the Barbie star spoke to host Jimmy Fallon about the high-energy segment at last month’s Academy Awards.
“When the Oscars asked you to perform, they call you and they go, ‘Would you want to do “I’m Just Ken?”’ do you immediately go, ‘Yeah, I have to do this,’ or no?” Fallon asked the actor.
Without missing a beat, Gosling replied, “100% no.”
He explained, “There’s a lot of ways that it can go wrong.”
Gosling, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ken in the summer blockbuster, earned rave reviews for his rendition of the Best Original Song contender.
Dressed in a fabulous hot pink suit, the actor had strutted around onstage with a group of backup Kens and multiple surprise guests, including Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.
Gosling also spoke to Fallon about the reaction of his daughters, ages 7 and 9, when they attended a rehearsal.
“Dad’s Kenning again,” he quipped in an imitation of his kids, adding that they had a “disinterest in Ken.”
Gosling said that he’d wanted them to attend the rehearsal to give them some “context for what had been going on” ― including “a lot of fake tan stains around the house.”
In a Variety interview published in February, Gosling said that he hadn’t been asked to perform at the Oscars yet, telling the outlet: “It might be too much of a risk to have me do it. I don’t know how that would work. But I’m open to it.”