The hilarious reason why Ryan Gosling agreed to play 'Ken'

Ryan Gosling stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Thursday, to promote his new Netflix film The Gray Man. However, while he was there, Fallon couldn't resist asking him about playing Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie, especially since Gosling practically broke the internet in June, when Warner Brothers released the first photo of him as the iconic Barbie counterpart on set.

When asked if he was surprised by the reaction the first photo got, Gosling shared, "I was surprised how, you know, some people were, kind of, clutching their pearls about my Ken as though they ever thought about Ken for a second before this."

 Gosling shared the story of the exact moment he decided to say yes to playing the role.

After Greta Gerwig, who is directing the film, offered Gosling the role, the actor stepped outside into his backyard to think about it for a second. Gosling shared, "Best script I've ever read. I walk out in the backyard and you know where I found Ken, Jimmy? Face down in the mud next to a squished lemon."

The blame for the mistreated Ken doll likely falls on Gosling's two daughters, whom he shares with actress Eva Mendes. However, it was then that the actor realized he needed to say yes to Gerwig. So Gosling took a picture of the disrespected Ken doll and texted it to the director saying, "I shall be your Ken. For his story must be told."