Barbie: Welsh dancer's role as Ken alongside Ryan Gosling

When Liam Riddick was six, helium dreamed of dancing successful movie sequences similar those from the Hollywood classical Singing successful the Rain.

Nearly 30 years on, the dancer got his imagination erstwhile helium was picked to beryllium 1 of the Kens successful this summer's biggest movie sensation, Barbie.

The big-screen reinvention of the integrative doll's beingness by manager Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling arsenic her would-be fellow Ken, is presently the astir fashionable movie worldwide and has already breached a fig of movie manufacture records.

Liam, 34, primitively from Brynna, Rhondda Cynon Taf, got a telephone telephone from the film's "incredible" choreographer Jennifer White who helium already knew, saying she "needed immoderate bodies" and asking if helium was free.

He had been a nonrecreational modern dancer for implicit a decennary aft studying astatine Coleg Gwent and London Contemporary Dance School earlier touring the world.

He besides performed successful the West End and connected surface with ensembles specified arsenic the Richard Alston Dance Company and Ballet Boyz.

"I didn't truly person the time," helium said. "I was doing thing else. But I benignant of worked it out, and I made it happen. I'm truthful gladsome I did due to the fact that it was truthful overmuch fun."

Liam and astir 40 different dancers were formed to execute successful a immense creation series portion Gosling sings I'm Just Ken - the irony being, of course, that they are each Kens, including Simu Liu's quality who is Gosling's rival for Barbie's affections.

The rehearsals and filming process were some done astatine the Warner Brother studios (known by galore for the Harry Potter workplace circuit connected the aforesaid site) northbound of London, wherever Liam present lives, and took astir 3 weeks past year.

"The 1 large happening astir Barbie is it's not CGI. Everything is built. All the sets, the imagination houses, everything is made. That's wherefore the movie is truthful fantastic," helium said.

"My sister utilized to person dolls and I deliberation my relative had the dreamhouse truthful you cognize the full set-up of opening it up and seeing the slide. It's precisely arsenic it is successful the film. They've done specified an unthinkable occupation with it.

"I knew what to expect successful the satellite of [Barbie], but erstwhile you're connected acceptable and you spot the dreamhouse oregon you spot the existent existent life-size one, similar you're the doll almost, it's mind-blowing. Very, precise cool."

The rehearsals process was demanding due to the fact that everything successful the country had to beryllium precise specific.

"We would bash rehearsals and past footage would beryllium sent disconnected to the director, to Greta. She would person a look and past travel backmost and accidental right, we request to alteration this, we request to deliberation astir this direction. So that was a spot of toing and froing," helium said.

"You'd walk truthful overmuch clip rehearsing a truly acceptable operation oregon portion of choreography, and past travel backmost and go, ohio no, I've lone conscionable got that and present we person to alteration it."

The enactment was hard, but determination was a batch of enjoyment on the way, Liam remembers.

"The rehearsal process was truly bully fun. I deliberation the full task was amusive due to the fact that of the Kens that were connected it - the different dancers.

"It was conscionable a laugh, you know. You spell successful to enactment and you're conscionable truthful excited due to the fact that everyone's truly large and being portion of the full happening was conscionable magical."

Gosling did not be rehearsals with the dancers but Liu did rehearse his portion with them.

"It was bully to stock the workplace with him," Liam said.

Once the dancers went onto the acceptable for filming, anticipation was moving high. "It was a spot of a shock. Everyone's precise excited due to the fact that connected acceptable was amazing.

"In the movie it's a large unfastened achromatic abstraction truthful there's nary existent acceptable but they person these stairs that spell up either side. So precise vast, and it was each done with lighting," Liam explained.

"But past Ryan Gosling walks successful the country and you conscionable spell - 'that's Ryan Gosling!'

"Once you get implicit the archetypal 'oh my god', everyone's human. Everyone's the scene, and it that country we're each Kens dancing astir being Ken, truthful you're connected the aforesaid level successful that sense. So that was nice."

Although Liam knew the movie was going to beryllium large due to the fact that of the roster of stars some starring successful and producing it, helium was unprepared for the nonstop grade of the improvement Barbie has go since its release.

"I didn't expect the magnitude of hype that it was getting. It's the biggest movie successful the satellite close present and it's conscionable bonkers.

"Covid deed cinemas arsenic good arsenic creation and arts and each that. But to person a movie that's wholly sold retired inactive and it's been possibly a week, possibly 2 present since it got released, it's conscionable incredible.

"It's truly beauteous to beryllium a portion of that hype. Even if it is conscionable a tiny smidge of that, my sanction is inactive successful that credit."

Liam was expecting the movie to a "fun, silly benignant of movie - being Barbie you conscionable expect it, but it's a truly large film.

"It's precise funny, it's got a batch of bosom and it's not conscionable for children. I deliberation it's divided 50:50, if not much projected towards adults."

And taking portion fulfilled a long-held ambition for him.

"I was a large instrumentality erstwhile I was younger of the large Hollywood films similar Singing successful the Rain and they bash the imagination sequence, the large immense unfastened space.

"When we were connected acceptable and we were doing a instrumentality and they'd outcry 'action', I'd person that tiny infinitesimal of axenic joyousness conscionable surviving my small six-year-old boy's phantasy of being successful Singing successful the Rain and doing these imagination sequences," helium said.

"I consciousness similar the full task and being a portion of it was my small acquisition to my six-year-old aforesaid to say, look astatine you now, look what you've done."

Liam is not the lone Welshman who made an quality successful the film, with Gavin and Stacey histrion Rob Brydon playing Sugar Daddy Ken.

It besides features stars of Wales-filmed Sex Education, Ncuti Gatwa and Emma Mackey, who play 1 of the Kens and Barbies respectively, and Connor Swindells, who plays a Mattel employee.

There are respective Barbies successful the film, including Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Scottish histrion Sharon Rooney, Alexandra Shipp, popstar Dua Lipa, whose opus Dance The Night features connected the soundtrack, and Kate McKinnon arsenic Weird Barbie.