Posted in: Movies, NBC, TV, Warner Bros, YouTube | Tagged: barbie, ryan gosling, saturday night live, snl, weekend update

SNL: Ryan Gosling's Journey From "Soho House Guy" to Barbie "Kenergy"

Here's a look at the SNL sketch that further convinced Barbie writer/director Greta Gerwig that Ryan Gosling had the right kind of "Kenergy."

With NBC's Saturday Night Live still on its between-seasons summer break (which, unfortunately, kicked off sooner than expected once the WGA/AMPTP writers' strike was called), we get a chance to cover a lot of the SNL "side stories" that we don't always get to during the regular season run. And there's no better time for an update than in the midst of the global phenomenon that is Greta Gerwig's Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling-starring Barbie. During a visit with the SmartLess podcast, Gerwig discussed the film's success – and touched upon one SNL sketch of Gosling's, in particular, that had an impact on Gosling getting a chance to tap into his inner "Ken."

"You know those actors you can… just sort of feel that they know what's funny, and I always felt that about him," Gerwig shared about Gosling. "And then I'm a big fan of all of his SNLs, I always thought he was great on SNL… He did 'Guy That Just Got a Boat' on 'Weekend Update,' and it's so good." The sketch that Gerwig refers to took place during 2017's Season 43 opener (with musical guest Jay-Z), with Gosling joining Alex Moffat's "Guy Who Just Bought a Boat" on "Weekend Update" as "Guy Who Just Joined Soho House."

In fact, Gerwig also shared that Gosling was in mind when she wrote the part of Ken – even including Gosling's name in the screenplay. And that was before Gosling was signed for the role. "We actually, in writing it, cast Ryan, like we wrote his name into the script and everything… and [Gosling's name] was everywhere," Gerwig revealed. "And then when we handed them the script, the studio was like, 'Oh, it's so wonderful that you know Ryan.' And I was like, 'Oh, I don't know Ryan. I've never met Ryan, I have no idea.'" Here's a look back at the "Weekend Update" sketch, followed by a look at a sketch from the same episode featuring Gosling and future Barbie co-star Kate McKinnon.

SNL: Michaels Offers 50th Season Celebration Details

Even with a possibly WGA & SAG-AFTRA strike-impacted Season 49 on the way this fall, it looks like Lorne Michaels is in the mood to start sharing some details on what's in store for NBC's Saturday Night Live as the 50th season approaches next year. Speaking at Cannes Lions Festival last month, Michaels shared that the celebration will include an event at NYC's Radio City Music Hall and that events honoring the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series will be integrated into NBC's Paris Olympics coverage next summer. "It will be emotional, but everyone will show up because it's important. The planning for it, which has taken the last six months, and it's not happening for another year and a half, there are a lot of events happening."

Michaels continued, "Right now, there's a Friday event at Radio City – a kind of homecoming night. It will have musical acts and stand-ups. Throughout the show, musical things that the cast have done over 50 years will be live. It will probably be streamed because the language won't be in control, and it will take as long as it takes. You'll see bands that have left a mark on the show and stand-ups that were part of it from the beginning or relatively recent. There are some documentaries being made. We're going to be part of the French Olympics, so that will be the official start of our celebration."

NBC's SNL Season 48 included Michael Che, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson, Colin Jost, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Devon Walker, and Bowen Yang. Executive produced by Michaels, SNL is directed by Liz Patrick, with alum Darrell Hammond announcing. Based out of Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, the long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series is produced by SNL Studios in association with Universal Television and Broadway Video.

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