He may just be Ken, but Ryan Gosling is also the dream meme machine that keeps on giving this awards season.
ICYMI, Gosling hasn’t been holding back when it comes to his hilarious facial reactions at recent awards shows. Whether it be his non-reaction to unfunny jokes about Barbie, or—as I’ll be discussing here—his lowkey horrified reaction to winning an award for his iconic tune, “I’m Just Ken,” his face has made for the absolute perfect meme time and time again.
The latter example occurred at the Critics Choice Awards this past Sunday when the Barbie squad took home the trophy for Best Song, beating out two other popular tracks from Barbie—”What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish and “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa—as well as other big hits like “Peaches” by Jack Black, “Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz, and “Wish” by Ariana DeBose.
The win was a surprise, as Billie Eilish’s emotional track was believed by many to be the favorite, and Gosling’s face said it all when his name was called.
His reaction was giving big “Wait, is Punk’d being rebooted and am I on it?” energy. Like, the shot lingers on the actor while he suspiciously looks from side to side, waiting for someone at his table to admit to staging what he seems to think is a prank.
Kenough? More like “Ken someone please explain to me how this happened?”
Well, songwriters Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt took to the stage to accept the award while Gosling remained seated, still clearly confused by the victory.
The singers did thank Gosling in their speech, saying, “Ryan Gosling, this is as much your award as it is ours. You made the world fall in love with this song thanks to your matchless performance.”
Anyway, the reaction quickly went viral online because, well, of course, becoming yet another A+ meme courtesy of the actor. Here are just a few of the absolute best uses of the new gif:
