How much did Ryan Gosling get paid for Barbie? Explained

2023's blockbuster Barbie presented the hilarious Ken played by Ryan Gosling, who received a lot of appreciation for the comic take on the doll. The actor, who is known for performing in the action and emotional drama genre, showcased his comedic skills in this live-action movie based on the Mattel dolls, earning positive reviews for his performance.

As such, the actor has two Oscar nominations for Half Nelson and La La Land. His humorous act was also appreciated in his 2016 movie, The Nice Guys, with Russell Crowe.

In Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s role was as important as that of the protagonist, Margot Robbie’s Barbie. Besides presenting great comic timing and striking costumes, the actor also performed the song I’m Just Ken. With such an array of performances in one movie, the actor was highly paid. His salary for Barbie is estimated to be about $12.5 million.

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Ryan Gosling’s salary for Barbie was as high as Margot Robbie’s

Gosling received an equal salary as Margot Robbie (Image via Warner Bros.)

Unlike other movies, Barbie revealed the salary figures of some of the lead actors. As per Variety, Ryan Gosling received a salary of $12.5 million for playing Ken. This matched the salary designated for Margot Robbie playing the lead character Barbie.

This shows he was granted equal importance alongside Margot for both the character of Ken as well as Gosling's performance. While the La La Land actor played an important role in promoting the movie, the high payment falls in the range of many of his payments from other movies.

He is known to have made $8 million for La La Land and $10 million for Blade Runner 2049. To top that he took home a whopping $20 million for The Gray Man. Having established himself in various genres, Ryan Gosling will likely get similar or higher pay in many of his forthcoming projects.

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A quick review of Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie’s Barbie

Barbie brought up gender issues in a satirical way (Image via Warner Bros.)

Greta Gerwig’s take on the plastic world of dolls was a statement about women, men and their empowerment. She presented the serious issues of toxic masculinity, feelings of entitlement, and female collaboration in a breezy satire.

From the world of Barbie where all Kens take the backseat, Robbie’s Barbie and Gosling’s Ken landed in the real world. While Barbie learnt about gender exploitation and the glass ceiling, the world of male entitlement was revealed to Ken.

Ken came back to Barbieland empowered and ready to empower other Kens and take control of their world. While the brainwashed Barbies reveled in the new role of simpering under male attention, Robbie’s Barbie and America Ferrera’s Gloria, the Mattel employee, walked in to bring a balance in the new chaos.

The Barbies learned to gather confidence and work with each other. They also realized the Kens were not enjoying many human rights in their world. The Kens realized they do not need to play second fiddle and both genders must look for some balance for a smooth-functioning society.

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What are Ryan Gosling’s upcoming projects?

Ryan Gosling has many upcoming projects (Image via Netflix)

After Barbie’s huge success, Ryan Gosling is set to appear in David Letch’s The Fall Guy. The movie initially slated for a March 2024 release, has been pushed to drop on May 3, 2024. He will co-star, Emily Blunt, Stephanie Hsu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Teresa Palmer among others.

Gosling is also set to feature in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary. However, there is no release date announced for the movie. While there was news in 2020 about Gosling starring in a Universal Pictures movie, titled Wolfman, there is no update about the project.

After the acclaim of Netflix’s The Gray Man, Ryan Gosling is expected to be part of the sequel, The Gray Man 2. He will likely be roped in for the rumored, as yet untitled, Ocean’s Eleven with Margot Robbie.