Ryan Gosling Performs 'Just Ken' at the Oscars With a Cameo By ...

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In one of the evening’s most anticipated performances, Gosling and dozens of dancers went over the top and even brought out Slash for a cameo on guitar.

In one of the most anticipated and surely one of the most exuberant moments of Oscar night, Ryan Gosling took the stage to perform “I’m Just Ken,” the nominated song from “Barbie” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt.

Wearing a sparkling pink suit and a cowboy hat, Gosling started out in the audience serenading his “Barbie” co-star Margot Robbie, who couldn’t contain her giggles. He then took the stage surrounded by an army of besuited Ken dancers, including fellow movie Kens Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa and Scott Evans. Mark Ronson joined him onstage but Slash of Guns N’ Roses did the true shredding, showing up midway through for a cameo. In a Ken-like demonstration of (minimal) strength he punched through a pink board with his hand, wearing a pink glove.”

At one point, Gosling returned to the crowd leading a singalong that included Robbie, director Greta Gerwig, “Barbie” actress America Ferrera and Emma Stone. (Stone was not in “Barbie,” however, she sang with Gosling in “La La Land.”)

On the red carpet, Ronson promised an “absolutely bananas spectacle” in an interview with E!, and he delivered on that promise, complete with cut outs of Barbie heads and a “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” aesthetic.

“Doing any sort of live TV is nerve-racking, and then to do it in that room? There’s not many rooms that are more intimidating,” Simu Liu told The Times at the Governors Ball following the telecast. “Nerves were running high and there was such a moment of elation when we were done: ‘Yes!’ I think we pulled it off,” he said.

In another life, Gosling might have gone the pop star route. He got his start on “The All New Mickey Mouse Club,” the revival of the classic Disney variety show, which also launched the careers of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. Before that, Gosling was a child dancer. His early routines, including one in which he wears “Hammer pants,” have received tens of millions of views online.

But instead of pursuing music celebrity, Gosling aimed to be an actor in “serious film,” as he once told The New York Times. He considered his past a hindrance. Agents dropped him. “It’s very hard coming from kids’ television to break the stigma,” he explained in 2011. “All you have is a VHS tape of you humping stuff on ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ and wearing fake tanner and fighting imaginary sphinxes.” (That latter bit was a reference to his time on “Young Hercules.”)

But even as Gosling moved from child performer to feted movie star, he never truly gave up his song and dance chops. There was a detour in 2009 when he made an indie rock record with his friend Zach Shields as the duo Dead Man’s Bones, which featured the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir on their goth tracks.

And filmmakers have been eager to use his talents. He was nominated for best actor for crooning and tap dancing in the musical “La La Land” (2017). Even so, when that film’s song “City of Stars” was up for (and won) best original song, Gosling did not take the stage. Instead, executive producer and fellow cast member John Legend did the honors.

“Barbie,” however, got Gosling to commit to the bit. “I’m Just Ken” accompanies the dream ballet near the end of Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar blockbuster in which Gosling’s Ken expresses his torment over playing second fiddle to Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Barbie Land. In addition to busting a move for the film, Gosling also sang on “Ken the EP,” which featured the original version of the tune and three additional ones, including “I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie).”

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