Ryan Gosling had an amusing comeback to the critics who think he's too old to play Ken in 'Barbie'

"If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken"

'Barbie' is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated films of the summer, but it hasn't been without its share of critics, either.

Some of the criticism levelled at the film, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular character, has been that Ryan Gosling - who is 42 - is too old to play Barbie's love interest, Ken.

However, Gosling had an amusing response to such comments, telling GQ: "I would say, you know, if people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with."

He added: "It is funny, this kind of clutching-your-pearls idea of, like, #notmyken. Like you ever thought about Ken before this?"

He also pointed out that the idea of Ken has always been one-dimensional, i.e. he exists only as Barbie's love interest. "And everyone was fine with that, for him to have a job that is nothing,” Gosling said. "But suddenly, it’s like, ‘No, we’ve cared about Ken this whole time.’ No, you didn’t. You never did. You never cared. Barbie never fucked with Ken. That’s the point. If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed. This is why his story must be told."

There was a sense that Gosling was making the comments in a tongue-in-cheek manner, however, as he laughed as he noted: "I care about this dude now. I’m like his representative. ‘Ken couldn’t show up to receive this award, so I’m here to accept it for him.’ "

The film opens in cinemas on July 21st.