Barbie star Simu Liu is not ready to stop feeling the Kenergy. The actor who played a rival Ken to Ryan Gosling’s abtastic Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated box office blockbuster busted out a solo version of the theme song from the movie’s signature dance number, “I’m Just Ken,” at an intimate show at Los Angeles’ Hotel Café on Wednesday (Dec, 13).
According to a video of the gig he posted on X, Liu instructed the crowd, “If there’s one thing that I want each and every one of you to take away from this show tonight in your hearts it’s that you’re enough,” he said the to 100 or so fans in the house as a keyboardist played some piano mood music behind him. “I want you to do this with me now. I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to put your hand on your heart, and I want you to repeat after me, okay?: I. Am. Kenough.”
They, of course, did as he instructed and Liu then busted into the first verse of the track written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt in a strong, soulful voice over a jazzy arrangement. He later admitted, however, that like the real world in the movie, something was a little off.
“The most Ken thing about this is that I forgot part of the words to ‘I’m Just Ken.’ What a great night!!!!,” Liu wrote on X after he fumbled the chorus line “Where I see love she sees a friend,” smiling and mumbling a nonsense phrase where the lyric should have been. He made up for it by taking off his leather jacket and showing off his guns in a tank top to whoops from the audience.
The consummate professional laughed off the flub, asking, “Are you ready to feel the Kenergy with me tonight? Let’s do this! You are Kenough, you are Kenough!” He also busted out the choreo from the movie’s insane dance dream sequence and belted out the lyrics while literally flexing all over the place and letting out a primal scream mid-song.
“I’m Just Ken” debuted at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August, giving Ryan Gosling his first entry on the 100 tally.
This isn’t Liu’s first singing rodeo. The actor released his debut four-track EP, Anxious-Avoidant, in Novmeber, which includes a song co-written by the Jonas Brothers’ Joe Jonas, “Break My Heart.”
Check out Liu’s performance below.
