Simu Liu has addressed the awkward footage of him and doing the rounds, in which Gosling appears to give him a pretty brutal brush off.
In footage taken from the Canadian press day for at the end of June, which has recently gone viral, the two actors – both from themselves – are seen posing together for photos.
Marvel star Liu has his arm around Gosling’s waist for the pictures until Oscar-nominee Gosling looks down and moves away carefully, saying something quietly to his colleague in the process, as he gestures with his hand.
‘You don’t want that? That’s too tender?’ Liu jokes as he removes his arm and Gosling responds: ‘Yeah, it’s a little bit.’
‘Fair enough,’ replies Liu as the two Kens instead adopt matching hands-in-pockets poses instead.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Liu poured cold water on any suggestions of awkwardness between them and seemed to suggest Gosling’s behaviour had been in jest.
‘I’d beach off with this Kenadian again in a heartbeat,’ the 34-year-old wrote, making reference to their fun ‘beach you off’ exchange in Barbie on the beach as they square up to one another.
He added: ‘[Gosling] is the best human in every way, especially when he jokes around with us on the carpet and on set, infecting all of us with his kenergy.’
Liu then changed topics for the end of his post, drawing people’s attention to the WGA and Sag-Aftra strikes that currently have Hollywood at a stand-still.
‘Now let’s get back to the issues that matter, like supporting our striking actors and writers fighting for fair wages!’
Initial reaction to the clip of Liu and Gosling had seen fans online fascinated by the dynamic, assuming it was serious.
‘If this happened to me I’d go into hiding and never leave,’ cringed one person, while another wrote: ‘The second hand embarrassment from this is crippling.’
‘I’ve never felt this rejected seeing something since the 1st [sic] time I professed my feelings to a guy in middle school,’ shared someone else.
Liu portrays one of , Kingsley Ben-Adir and Scott Evans in Barbie, with Gosling’s Beach Ken taking the lead opposite Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie, as he starts to question his place in Barbieland before, ultimately, .
Barbie enjoyed last weekend, while its opening day competition Oppenheimer also performed very healthily.
The two films had enjoyed intense anticipation from fans, who dubbed .
However, both films were vocally supported of each other, with Oppenheimer leading man Cillian Murphy even saying he would be open to .
Barbie (and Oppenheimer) is in cinemas now.
