Ryan Gosling Says Slash Barely Made It to Their ‘I’m Just Ken’ Oscars Performance: ‘It Was Very Tense’

Slash was one of the highlights of Ryan Gosling‘s show-stealing “I’m Just Ken” performance at the 2024 Oscars, but according to the actor, the Guns N’ Roses guitarist barely made it to the event.

During his Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance Wednesday night (May 1), Gosling revealed that leading up to the show, he felt anxious about the flamboyant number, which featured dozens of backup dancers, Barbie head cutouts and audience participation, in addition to Slash shredding on guitar toward the end.

“You were nervous about how it would come off, right?” Kimmel asked, to which Gosling jokingly replied, “I wonder why.”

“We had to have Slash,” the La La Land star continued. “He’s an enigma. It was very tense. He had a gig in China the night before and then one in Thailand the night after. So it was like, ‘Slash is never going to be able to be here.’ He wasn’t at rehearsal.”

As viewers saw on Oscars night March 10, Slash did end up making it to the show. Behind the scenes, Gosling says he was relieved — but he didn’t even get the chance to debrief with the rock star after it was all over. “Suddenly, as I was walking into dress rehearsal, I saw a guitar case and it had a skull with a top hat on it,” he recalled. “And I knew that Slash had arrived. Then after the show, he was gone.”

“I’m Just Ken” was one of five tracks nominated for best original song at this year’s Academy Awards, where another Barbie track, Billie Eilish and Finneas’ “What Was I Made For?,” ended up taking the prize. The sister-brother duo was the first to perform onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, while Gosling, Slash, Mark Ronson and Co. served as the final performance.

Gosling’s next project post-Barbie is Fall Guy, which hits theaters Friday (May 3). He recently revealed his favorite Taylor Swift song in honor of his character in the film’s love for the pop star, as did costar Emily Blunt.

“‘All Too Well’ right now has a real soft spot in my heart,” he told Fandango in April, while Blunt said, “‘Cruel Summer’ is pretty up there for me.”

Watch Gosling’s full Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview below.