In the telephone box with Screenrant, Ryan Gosling melted the plastic and responded with big Kenergy to Barbie co-star Ncuti Gatwa becoming the Fifteenth Doctor. Following David Tennant’s (Broadchurch, Good Omens) fleeting return as The Doctor, Gatwa will be a fresh addition to the brain-grenading, Chronos-cleaving, pickle-hitching carbuncle from planet Gallifrey.

Before reigning in all of time as the fugitive Time Lord in fall of 2023, Gatwa and Gosling will stack up as custom editions of Ken in Greta Gerwig’s (White Noise, Mistress America) adaptation of the beloved Mattel novelty, Barbie. With Gatwa starring in Barbie, Doctor Who, and Sex Education during 2023, the busy actor sat down to split a page with Vogue UK about a startling moment following the announcement that he was cast as Doctor Who in May 2022. Outside of his trailer on the set of Barbie, he recalled that Gosling’s response to his Doctor Who casting left him stunned. 

“I remember Ryan Gosling bounding up to my trailer like, ‘Doctor Who is the coolest show in the world man! I’m the biggest fan,’. And I was like, ‘What the hell?’ This show has incredible reach,” said Gatwa.

Gosling has been holding it down as one of Gatwa’s most unusual, yet incredible supporters since capturing the TARDIS console.

Under the plastic, Gosling’s depiction of Ken in Barbie is already a highly anticipated element of the new movie. Unofficial trailers, videos, and promos have already glued Ken to the interwebs. Ken, who’s gold standard is naivete and good-natured, has Gosling journeying through a more comedic performance, an out of template metamorphosis from his recent spellbinding thrillers like The Gray Man and Blade Runner 2049.

As Barbie continued production, Gatwa posted a photo of Gosling (First Man, La La Land) clad in an unofficial Doctor Who shirt. Fans were stunned by Gosling’s allegiance and support of Gatwa and the show.

Showrunner Russell T. Davies (Torchwood, Queer as Folk) was also surprised at Gosling’s reaction and shirt design, joking that the shirt could ignite a legal dispute.

Gosling’s admiration for Gatwa (The Last Letter from Your Lover, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) triggered so much more anticipation about the actor colliding with the show that audiences are anxious to soak up Gatwa’s debut as The Doctor this year.

Gosling’s appreciation of Doctor Who shook the fanverse in disbelief in 2022, and it’s clear that he wasn’t the only one who’s life was defined by the time-twisting news, accentuating just how far the franchise has leaked into pop culture over its 60-year run. With Gatwa set to bring in a new fever in his 2023 debut, lighting up season 14 in 2024, Gosling’s reaction cuts deep into the suspense for the long coveted sci-fi show.