Stars, they’re just like us. Ncuti Gatwa had the most relatable reaction to working alongside Ryan Gosling on “Barbie” in that, well, Gosling was just too good-looking to be around.
Gatwa, who plays one of the many Kens in “Barbie,” told Elle UK that he was “so nervous” to be filming with Gosling, in part due to how striking his co-star is.
“I was so nervous I hardly spoke for the first month [on set],” Gatwa said. “There was a time when I was talking to [writer-director] Greta [Gerwig] and I turned around and Ryan Gosling was looking at me, and his eyes were so blue that I just fell over. I just drowned in his eyes.”
The “Doctor Who” actor and “Sex Education” alum added that the Gerwig-helmed blockbuster film had “the most kind, empathetic set I’ve ever been on.”
“We played So Solid Crew and all these old-school garage tunes,” Gatwa said, “and then we got to Magic Mike and all screamed our faces off at the incredible dancers. Then we all went to [London nightclub] The Box…The group chat the next day was lit.”
The Gosling-Gatwa mutual fandom kicked off after Gosling celebrated Gatwa making history as the first Black Doctor to lead the long-running BBC series “Doctor Who.”
“I am such a big fan of Ncuti’s, he’s the coolest,” Gosling said during “The One” show with hosts Alex Scott and Roman Kemp (via The Independent). “Him playing Doctor Who is the most exciting thing that’s happening right now. I’m here for it.”
Gosling previously went viral donning a fan-made T-shirt featuring Gatwa as the Time Lord. “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T. Davies reposted a photo of Gosling in fan gear, captioning, “This is, genuinely, Ryan Gosling wearing a t-shirt of Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who” with a shocked emoji.
The official “Doctor Who” Instagram page at the time commented, “RG doing our work for us.”
Gatwa and Gosling’s “Barbie” co-star Simu Liu recalled that Gatwa kept the casting news under wraps during production on the film. “[He] didn’t tell anyone a thing,” Liu said during part of the book tour for his memoir “We Were Dreamers,” via Variety. “And then all of a sudden over the weekend he was announced. We came to work on Monday we were like ‘Dude, how long have you been holding this in for?’ And he’s like, ‘Two months.’”
Liu shared, “He had to get security in and around not only his place of residence but the places of residence of his entire family…I would have combusted [holding in a secret like that].”
