Ryan Gosling is hailing his nomination at the upcoming Golden Globes as a win for all of Ken-kind.
On Monday afternoon, it was revealed that the Canadian star was in the running for the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in the hit movie Barbie.
His is one of nine nominations for the film – the most recognised at next year’s ceremony – including Best Film (Comedy Or Musical), Best Director for Greta Gerwig and Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Or Musical for Margot Robbie.
Per E! News, Ryan enthused: “It’s an honour to have your work acknowledged, but for Ken, this is the first time he’s been acknowledged, for anything, EVER! And to have it be for supporting Barbie, there is no greater honour.
“So thanks to the Golden Globes, Ken, whose job definitely isn’t ‘surf,’ has been shredding one giant wave of emotions since he heard the news.”
Despite Ryan’s performance as Ken receiving near-unanimous praise from critics, his initial casting was met with a somewhat mixed reaction, which came as a surprise to the La La Land star.
“I was surprised how, you know, some people were kind of clutching their pearls about my Ken as though they ever thought about Ken for a second before this,” he said last year.
“They never played with Ken. Nobody plays with Ken, man. He’s an accessory, and not even one of the cool ones.”
He added that despite thinking Barbie was the “best script” he’d ever read, he needed time to mull over whether he wanted to take on the role of Ken.
“I walk out in the backyard and you know where I found Ken?” he recalled. “Face down in the mud next to a squished lemon…. [I said], ‘I shall be your Ken, for his story must be told’.”
More recently, there’s even been chat about a potential Ken spin-off, which director Greta did little to dispel last week.