Barbie is the long-time “golden standard” for what some people think women should look like. While the unrealistic expectation that Barbie has set for women has been under scrutiny for quite some time, what people rarely talk about is the perfect Ken body, and apparently Barbie star Ryan Gosling is trying pretty hard to meet that standard. According to co-star Simu Liu, Gosling went pretty hard on his diet and workouts while getting prepared for the uber pink Margot Robbie-led film.
Simu Liu may have waxed for the film, but apparently he isn’t sweating it too hard in terms of working out for his upcoming role in Barbie. According to the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actor, though, his co-star Ryan Gosling is taking care of his health enough for the both of them. In an interview with ET at the Time 100 Gala, Liu was asked how his gym routine compares to that of other actors in the movie. He relayed just how hard Gosling has worked out and dieted ahead of Barbie, and it sounds pretty hardcore. Here it is in Liu’s own words:
Definitely Ryan — 100 percent. He’s definitely, like, a gym in the morning, gym after work kinda guy. … As much as I I believe that I do have a work ethic, I also love food a lot. Just hearing little bits and pieces about, you know, just his strict diet regimen and just like how much emphasis he puts on taking care of himself and his body, I’m like, I respect it, I respect it. I’m gonna have some soda.
Now Simu Liu knows his way around the gym. He got pretty ripped for Shang-Chi, and his shirtless thirst traps show some undeniable strength. It sounds like he has nothing on Ryan Gosling, though, as the Drive actor apparently works out multiple times a day and has a very strict diet. I mean, have you ever seen him in Crazy, Stupid, Love? His abs are insane!
That was over a decade ago, though, and Ryan Gosling has been out of the Hollywood spotlight for a few years now. Barbie and his upcoming Netflix film The Gray Man will be his first couple films in a string of projects the actor has coming up, so it makes sense he would go extra hard for preparation.
On the other hand, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was just last year. He probably had a more strict workout schedule when he was in the process of getting ripped for that film than he is ahead of Barbie. Although, Ryan Gosling may just have an overall healthy lifestyle all of the time, just like his Crazy, Stupid, Love character.
Barbie doesn’t come out until July 21, 2023, and I can’t wait to see the star-studded film. In the meantime, you can catch Ryan Gosling in his 2022 new release film The Gray Man on Netflix starting July 15th. As for Marvel star Simu Liu, you can see him (still ripped) opposite Mark Wahlberg in Arthur the King, which has finished filming, but doesn’t have a release date yet.