‘Barbie’ Director Greta Gerwig Shares That Ken’s Faux Mink Coat Was Inspired By Her And Ryan Gosling’s Mutual And “Very Deep Love Of Sly Stallone”: “He Wore Wonderful Coats”

Barbie director Greta Gerwig recently opened up about the inspiration for one of Ken’s wardrobe staples, and shared an idea conceived by film star Ryan Gosling that “didn’t make it into the movie.”

Speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Thursday night (Dec. 14), Gerwig discussed how a mutual and “very deep love of Sly Stallone” led Gosling’s Ken to sport a faux mink coat in the film, per Entertainment Weekly.

“He wore wonderful coats, and we were texting back and forth pictures, so we decided Ken should have this faux mink,” she explained.

After describing Gosling’s iconic musical number “I’m Just Ken,” she recalled an idea of his that did not come to fruition.

“He would have a dance duet with his mink,” she began, “and the mink would be fighting him, and then love him, and then fight him again, eventually defeat him, and that he would be birthed anew out of the mink.”

While she revealed that “somewhere there’s rehearsal footage of this,” she shut down fans’ hopes of ever seeing it by claiming it’s in “the vault.”

“But the thing is, even though it didn’t end up being in the movie, it was that kind of openness and everybody bringing such brilliant, wild ideas that allowed it to happen in this form,” she shared, concluding that they “had a fun week exploring what it would be if he did his mink ballet.”

Back in October, Gerwig revealed that “I’m Just Ken,” which garnered Gosling a Grammy nod, nearly got cut from the film.

“It just said in the script, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance,” she clarified at the BFI London Film Festival, per Variety. “There was a big meeting that was like, ‘Do you need this?’ And I was like, ‘Everything in me needs this.’”

Barbie is streaming on Max. The Late Show airs on weeknights at 11:35/10:35c on CBS. Next-day streaming is available on Paramount+, while subscribers with the Showtime extension can stream episodes live. Watch Gerwig’s interview above.