“I wasn’t allowed to keep the rollerblades,” Ryan Gosling in an exclusive chat with Harper's Bazaar

There are very few movies whose pre-hype has been both as relentless and–frankly–as hysteria-filled as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.

Aside from Barbie herself being a bona fide icon, the other reason for the unbridled hyperventilating is undoubtedly the casting—Margot Robbie, of course, but the decision to give the role of Ken to Ryan Gosling was nothing short of inspired. From his idea to create Ken-stamped boxer shorts in the vein of Calvin Klein to his press tour wardrobe (honourable mention goes to the Barbie-font ‘Directed by Greta Gerwig’ T-shirt, and more recently, the hot-pink Tag Heuer Carrera offset perfectly against a powder-blue suit), it’s surely this kind of Ken-ergy that won him the role, and why the top table at Tag Heuer were so keen to sign him as an ambassador for the Swiss watch powerhouse.

The watch world and comedy aren’t exactly traditional bedfellows, which is why it’s all the more refreshing, and impressive, that the LVMH-owned Tag Heuer—under the dynamic stewardship of CEO and Arnault scion, Frédéric—chose to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Carrera watch by creating a short action-comedy starring Ryan himself. The Chase For Carrera premiered at a star-studded launch party in London, and we sat down with Ryan just beforehand to discuss making it, making Barbie, and making time for things that matter.

Harper's Bazaar: How much does the future drive or inspire you?

Ryan Gosling: You know, I have kids now. And I think about time differently. I’m just more aware of it; the time that we have together, and it’s nice to have a physical reminder of it. It’s a way to try and be reminded of the present and embrace the future.

HB: What was it like putting personal touches into this campaign? The improvisational aspect meant having freedom in a setting you wouldn’t normally…

RG: It’s one of the things I love about working with Tag Heuer. It speaks to their versatility that they were willing to have this become an action-comedy piece. I was shooting an action-comedy in Sydney, and they just completely embraced the idea of making this campaign to match that tone. And because [director] David Leitch and I were making a movie about making a movie, it seemed to make sense to have this be a commercial about making a commercial. I waited a long time to partner with the brand, and this is a great example of why I made the right choice. It feels very unique to me, and I don’t know many other luxury brands that are willing to shift gears so dramatically.

HB: From Drive to Barbie, you’ve played such varied roles. How important is it for you to have input into them?

RG: With Drive, I understood the film that Nick [Refn] wanted to make. We spent a lot of time when we were talking about it just driving around LA, listening to music. And he was like, “This is what the movie should feel like.” So we had even more than the story; we had this mutual experience that was a touchstone for the film. It just makes it easy when a filmmaker can somehow communicate that to you because you know what you’re making and how to help. And with Greta (Gerwig), she’s just so brilliant, and it’s her vision for Barbie that is so special and unique that she’s just somebody that I wanted to go work for.

HB: Most of your characters have had truly excellent wardrobes. In your opinion, whose has been the coolest and have you kept anything from any of them?

RG: I think the Ken wardrobe is very… (grins). There’s a lot of interesting things to come from that in terms of the wardrobe, but it just doesn’t work on me (laughs), although somehow, on-screen, it does. I wasn’t allowed to keep the rollerblades, though. They’re quite hard to hide.

This piece originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar Arabia