It looks like Ryan Gosling is going to be warming up his vocal chords over the next few weeks. The “La La Land” star has reportedly agreed to belt out the Best Original Song nominee “I’m Just Ken” during the 2024 Academy Awards telecast. This would be a nice coup for the Oscars hoping to infuse the ceremony with as much “Barbie” magic as it can after the social media outcry following snubs of director Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie in the Best Actress category.
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Gosling, who is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for “Barbie,” famously did not perform the Oscar-winning “City of Stars” from “La La Land” during the 90th Academy Awards. That responsibility was given to John Legend, who also appeared in the movie. Legend won the category a few years earlier for “Glory” from “Selma.”
There is no word on whether any of the other “Ken’s” from the movie, which would include Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and Scott Evans, will also appear in the musical number.
The Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt-penned song is still an underdog to win Best Original Song thanks to the other nominee from “Barbie,” the Billie Eilish and Finneas composition, “What Was I Made For?” That song has not only won a Grammy Award for the equivalent Best Song Written for Visual Media but also the prestigious Song of the Year category.
His performance in “Barbie” marks Gosling’s third Oscar nomination. He was also nominated for Best Actor in 2007 for “Half Nelson.” He’ll appear on screens next opposite another Oscar nominee this year, Emily Blunt, in “The Fall Guy.”
The 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the new time of 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT.