Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

Greta Gerwig realized Ryan Gosling was ‘perfect' for Ken role after seeing him in this ‘SNL' sketch

A sketch during Weekend Update six years ago would lead to Gosling's now-iconic role in "Barbie."

Ryan Gosling during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon
Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images

After "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig saw Ryan Gosling star in a sketch as host as of "Saturday Night Live," she knew "The Fall Guy" star was Kenough for his now-iconic role.

In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" Thursday night, Gosling revealed that his performance in a silly Weekend Update sketch about "a guy who just joined SoHo house or something," as Gosling put it, is what caused Gerwig to realize he was "perfect" for his "Barbie" role.

"The first line was like, 'Sgt. Blackout reporting for booty,'" Gosling recalled of the sketch.

"Who would have thought that Greta Gerwig would watch that and go, 'That's my Ken,'" Gosling added.

Check out the full six-year-old sketch here:

Gosling, who is set to host "Saturday Night Live" for the third time this weekend, also told Fallon that knowing the impact his performance could have has caused him to be "more nervous" than his previous two hosting gigs.

"I haven't slept in three days," Gosling hilariously said at one point.

"The Gray Man" star later went on to talk to Fallon about his upcoming movie "The Fall Guy," which he said follows a stunt man as he tries to help his ex-girlfriend, played by Emily Blunt, find the missing movie star for her debut film as a director ("The Fall Guy" is distributed by Universal Pictures, a member of the NBCUniversal family).

You can also catch Gosling host "Saturday Night Live" alongside musical guest Chris Stapleton live at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

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