Gosling, Blunt still are basking in Oscar glow of ‘epic’ ‘I’m Just Ken’

AUSTIN, Texas – He’s not just Ken. Fresh off of Sunday’s Oscars performance of the nominated “Barbie” tune, “I’m Just Ken,” Ryan Gosling attended the world premiere of his new action comedy at Austin’s SXSW festival, which began March 8 and has hosted celebs including Duchess Meghan, Selena Gomez and Dev Patel.

Gosling stars in “The Fall Guy,” an action comedy inspired by the ’80s television series starring Lee Majors. In the movie version, opening May 3, Gosling portrays stuntman Colt Seavers. Colt disappears after suffering an injury on a movie set and checks out of his fling with colleague Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). The exes are reunited when Colt is hired for Jody’s sci-fi romance movie, unbeknownst to the director and at the request of soda-chugging producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham).

Before Gosling and Blunt viewed their movie with a charged audience, the stars spoke about Gosling’s Oscars performance.

The “Barbie” star seemed happy with himself when he spoke about preparing.

“I just wanted it to be as fun as possible,” Gosling told USA TODAY. “That’s what we tried to do, and if it took 62 Kens and 40 big Barbie heads and Slash to do it, then that’s what we had to do.”

Blunt predicts that the performance will have more longevity than Ken’s attempt to take over Barbie Land.

“I said it to him yesterday, ‘People are going to talk to you about it till you’re 90 years old. It will be people’s in to conversation with you until the day you die,’ ” Blunt said on the carpet. “It was so epic. It just brought the house down. It was incredible. People were grinning. The energy in the room shifted. The Oscars is incredible and full of reverence and ceremony, but it can also be fun as hell as we found out.”

On Sunday, the two teased their chemistry. Gosling joked that “Oppenheimer” had been “riding ‘Barbie’s’ coattails all summer,” and Blunt accused him of painting on his abs.

At the premiere, they were a bit kinder with their words.

“He’s just wonderful and funny and smart and super creative,” Blunt gushed. “I think chemistry’s a funny thing. You can fake it, which you do have to do sometimes. But I think if you have a natural humor and a flow with someone, it’s just much easier.”

“Emily Blunt, she’s the secret sauce of this film,” Gosling said. “I’m such a fan of hers but she’s in full Blunt force in this movie. It’s something to see. She’s so funny, so, so, so good.”

Inside the theater Gosling brought up Eva Mendes, with whom he shares two daughters, during a Q&A. When a question was raised about a dog in the film, Gosling said the role was inspired by Mendes’ late pup.

“Eva used to have a dog named Hugo who was a Belgian Malinois, who was an attack dog,” said Gosling. “And he only spoke French,” like the dog in the movie. “He’s passed now. … Miss that dude.”