Yesterday when we were all minding our own business wondering when the aliens would attack, a video of Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu posing on a Barbie red carpet together (pre SAG-AFTRA strike) went viral due to its sheer awkwardness.
The video has been scrubbed from much of Twitter (innnnnteresting), but seemingly showed Ryan asking Simu not to put an arm around him. According to the lip readers over at Page Six, Ryan said, “Don’t hold me there, man. I mean, do you want me to touch you like that?” To which Simu replied “You don’t what—oh, it’s too tender? Fair enough.”
While the moment seemed kinda tense / weird / not the kenergy we’d hoped for, Simu hopped on Instagram stories to assure everyone there’s no drama.
“I’d beach off with this Kenadian again in a heartbeat. He is the best human in every way, especially when he jokes around with us on the carpet and on set, infecting all of us with his Kenergy,” Simu said, adding “Now let’s get back to the issues that matter, like supporting our striking actors and writers fighting for fair wages!”
FYI, Simu also spoke highly about Ryan during an Men’s Health interview, saying “Ryan is such a natural improviser, and he improvises in so many different ways, sometimes with words, but also he could say the exact same words on a script but in totally different and fresh and exciting ways. It just really forced anybody playing opposite him to be fully present, and to listen. Because if you didn’t, you might miss something really incredible he was doing that would give you then, like, something to react off of or respond to, and I think that’s when acting is the least stale and the most exciting—when neither person goes into a scene fully knowing what’s going to happen. And with Ryan, I never knew what was gonna happen. That’s what both excited and scared me the most.”
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.