Anyone at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara Saturday evening would have felt the “Kenergy” thrumming in the air as Hollywood heavyweights gathered to honor Ryan Gosling, this year’s recipient of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film. The award not only recognized the actor’s instantly iconic performance as Ken in this year’s smash hit Barbie, but his entire body of work, which began in 1993 as the self-described “least talented kid” on The Mickey Mouse Club, and spans everything from quirky indies such as Lars and the Real Girl, gritty dramas like Blue Valentine and Drive, to the blockbuster favorites The Notebook and La La Land.

“It’s hard for me to think of another contemporary actor who has amassed a more electrifying and eclectic parade of characters than Ryan Gosling,” remarked SBIFF Director Roger Durling in his welcome speech to the event’s guests. Gosling’s range was incontrovertibly demonstrated in the tribute montages shown throughout the evening, where Gosling does everything from battle robots from the future, tap dances across the stars, and renders Emma Stone speechless with his abdomen. 

Gosling’s Crazy Stupid Love and The Big Short co-star Steve Carrell was also in attendance to honor him. He too applauded Gosling’s diversity of roles, however Carell used the majority of his speech to praise the person Gosling is, the man beyond the actor. The Office star shared many of Gosling’s past good deeds – playing music for seniors at a retirement home, protecting a woman from being hit by a taxi, saving a dog from being run over on the highway, and driving to New Orleans to aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – all done without attention or self-congratulatory fanfare. “He’s a genuinely nice person. He makes other actors who are pretending to be nice, like me, look like insincere piles of garbage,” Carell joked. 

Barbie writer/director Greta Gerwig made the trip to Santa Barbara as well to present Gosling with the award. “There is no one that I would rather be giving a speech about than Ryan Gosling,” she began, then insightfully connected Gosling with the award’s namesake, “My theory about Kirk Douglas and my theory about Ryan is they both commit in such a way to characters, in all their beauty and their ugliness, because they are actors and people who believe that redemption is possible. This is hopeful and this is needed. If you don’t believe in the possibility of redemption, you would never show people in all their complexity.” 

Gerwig then brilliantly illuminated why Gosling’s unflinching commitment to the silliness and histrionics of Ken mattered so much, beyond the surface level hilarity of the role:  

“He thought it was important. He knew it was important. I think as girls, we always think our games and our toys to be less important, because the world historically has treated them as less important. Boys’ games and toys have always had corresponding adult versions that are important…Now I don’t know if this is because he has daughters, or because of his amazing wife, or because he was raised by a wonderful mom, but Ryan, never for one moment, doubted the value of the interior lives of girls. By bringing his immense talent, his passion, his dedication, his total commitment to Ken, and to Barbie, he’s saying this matters. The dream life, the playtime, and the inner world of girls matter. They are not less than, they deserve the best and the biggest of what I have to offer. He’s co-signing this importance by his commitment, and by his presence, and by his art.” 

For a lesser artist, Greta Gerwig would be a tough act to follow. However, Gosling approached the podium to receive the Kirk Douglas Award with the ease, humility, and charisma that made him a movie star in the first place. 

“I was not emotionally prepared for tonight,” Gosling confessed. “But here we are. I’m getting the Kirk Douglas Award somehow. He’s one of the first true icons of cinema…and I’m just Ken.” 

Gosling’s acceptance speech was as gracious as it was entertaining, regaling the audience with tales of his younger self and his swearing problem, how his love for film developed over trips to his local library to check out classic movies, and how watching Steve Carrell crack up a boom operator on a job when he was seventeen inspired Gosling to devote himself to his craft. 

Usually tight-lipped about his family, Gosling acknowledged his wife and daughters in his speech, “I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children.” He also talked at length about his mother and sister’s influence on his life and career, threw a couple good-natured jabs back at Carell, and of Gerwig he remarked, “Even though she was making one of the biggest films of all time, against all the odds in the world, she never allowed the weight of the task to steal the joy away from the moment.” 

Gosling confessed, “I dreamed of one day making movies, and now movies have made my life a dream. So the way I see it, there’s no way I’ve contributed half as much to cinema as cinema has contributed to me. But the idea that I might have given something back to the thing that has given so much to me is too great an honor for me to express.”

Ever the modest Canadian, he hedged being the center of the evening’s attention with a quip. “It’s hard to imagine being at a point in my career where I’m standing up here tonight. It’s hard to feel deserving of all of this. But I remind myself that the proceeds go to a wonderful cause, so it doesn’t really matter if I deserve it or not.” 

Despite the cheekiness, Gosling’s correct. In addition to the yearly festival SBIFF holds, which boasts hundreds of screenings, celebrity panels, and glamorous award ceremonies, their educational programs are at the heart of the organization’s mission. Across their twelve initiatives, the organization reaches over 14,000 people each year. Whether it’s through their mentoring programs or screening series, SBIFF strives to share the magic and power of cinema with some of the most vulnerable members of our community – including at-risk and under-served youth, low-income families and their children, and transit-dependent senior citizens.

And given the sold out crowd and the standing ovation he received, it seems safe to conclude that SBIFF’s educational programs will maintain their funding and no matter how many times he sings it, perhaps Ryan Gosling isn’t “just Ken”. 

The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs from February 7-17, 2024. Get tickets to the event HERE. 

Event photos by Jackie Male.

More about The Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization. Over the past 35 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and panels, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire people through the power of film. We celebrate the art of cinema and provide impactful educational experiences for our local, national and global communities. Learn more on their WEBSITE.