Ryan Gosling, 42, laughs off claims he is too OLD to play Ken in the new Barbie movie

Ryan Gosling has laughed off being told he’s ‘too old’ to play Ken in the new Barbie movie.

The 42-year-old Hollywood star portrays the standard Ken in the upcoming live-action movie based on the Mattel doll alongside Margot Robbie as ‘stereotypical’ Barbie.

And the Drive star insists no one even ‘cared’ about Ken before he was unveiled as the actor playing him and he says his story needs to be told.

He told GQ: ‘I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with.

‘It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?’

Feeling young: The 42-year-old Hollywood star portrays the standard Ken in the upcoming live-action movie based on the Mattel doll alongside Margot Robbie as ‘stereotypical’ Barbie

Ryan then shared: ‘And everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing. But suddenly, it’s like, “No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.”‘

He argued people did not care about Ken before. 

‘No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never f***** with Ken.

‘That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.

‘I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative. “Ken couldn’t show up to receive this award, so I’m here to accept it for him,” Ryan joked.

It was his young daughters playing with a Ken doll that made him realize it was a story that needed to be shared.

His gal: And the Drive star insists no one even ‘cared’ about Ken before he was unveiled as the actor playing him and he says his story needs to be told

Care: He told GQ: ‘I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with. It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?’

Ryan added: ‘I did see him, like, face down in the mud outside one day, next to a squished lemon, and it was like, “This guy’s story does need to be told,” you know?’

The flick, which arrives in cinemas on July 21, features multiple versions of Barbie and Ken.

He also talked to GQ about kids.

Gosling, a former Disney star, embarked on a relationship with Mendes, 49, after the pair played troubled lovers in critically acclaimed 2012 drama The Place Beyond The Pines. 

The role served as a personal turning point for Gosling, and he admits the prospect of parenthood didn’t cross his mind until he met the Latina actress, who is seven-years his senior. 

‘I wasn’t thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn’t want to have kids without her,’ he recalled. 

‘And there were moments on The Place Beyond the Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn’t really want it to be pretend anymore. I realised that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have.’ 

The couple’s first child, Esmeralda, was born in 2014, with Amada following two years later as Gosling’s career reached a mainstream peak with starring roles in musical epic La La Land and comedy crime drama The Nice Guys. 

The following year he would play legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong in biopic First Man before sidelining his career to spend more time with his family – a decision that he admits changed his attitude towards work. 

‘I treat it more like work now, and not like it’s, you know, therapy,’ he said. ‘It’s a job, and I think in a way that allows me to be better at it because there’s less interference.’ 

Barbie, Gosling’s second film since returning to the industry, represents his biggest step into the mainstream, but the actor’s casting as youthful Ken at 42 has raised quizzical eyebrows among fans of the franchise.

Read all about it: The summer issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on the 13th June

‘I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with,’ he joked. 

‘It is funny…this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?…But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ 

‘No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never f***ed with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told.’

The summer issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on the 13th June.