Ryan Gosling‘s daughters are used to the kenergy. 

After all, 9-year-old Esmeralda and 7-year-old Amada—who Ryan shares with Eva Mendes—were frequent visitors to the Barbie film set. 

“It was their interest in Barbie, and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all this,” Ryan said during an April 11 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “it’s really been a team effort. And they were on the film and they came to set when I filmed the number.”

And by “number,” Ryan is of course speaking to the film’s Oscar-nominated, show-stopping “I’m Just Ken” song. 

“They knew they know all the choreography better than I do, the songs,” the 43-year-old joked, before imitating his daughters doing the dance a la Dance Moms. “They’re backstage showing me.”

The Notebook alum said it wasn’t until his onstage performance at the 2024 Oscars, however, that the pair really understood what it had all been about.