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

When Liam Riddick was six, he dreamed of dancing in movie sequences like those from the Hollywood classic Singing in the Rain.

Nearly 30 years on, the dancer got his dream when he was picked to be one of the Kens in this summer's biggest film sensation, Barbie.

The big-screen reinvention of the plastic doll's life by director Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as her would-be boyfriend Ken, is currently the most popular film worldwide and has already broken a number of movie industry records.

Liam, 34, originally from Brynna, Rhondda Cynon Taf, got a phone call from the film's "incredible" choreographer Jennifer White who he already knew, saying she "needed some bodies" and asking if he was free.

He had been a professional contemporary dancer for over a decade after studying at Coleg Gwent and London Contemporary Dance School before touring the world.

He also performed in the West End and on screen with ensembles such as the Richard Alston Dance Company and Ballet Boyz.

"I didn't really have the time," he said. "I was doing something else. But I kind of worked it out, and I made it happen. I'm so glad I did because it was so much fun."

Liam and about 40 other dancers were cast to perform in a vast dance sequence while Gosling sings I'm Just Ken - the irony being, of course, that they are all Kens, including Simu Liu's character who is Gosling's rival for Barbie's affections.

The rehearsals and filming process were both done at the Warner Brother studios (known by many for the Harry Potter studio tour on the same site) north of London, where Liam now lives, and took about three weeks last year.

"The one great thing about Barbie is it's not CGI. Everything is built. All the sets, the dream houses, everything is made. That's why the film is so fantastic," he said.

"My sister used to have dolls and I think my cousin had the dreamhouse so you know the whole set-up of opening it up and seeing the slide. It's exactly as it is in the film. They've done such an incredible job with it.

"I knew what to expect in the world of [Barbie], but when you're on set and you see the dreamhouse or you see the actual real life-size one, like you're the doll almost, it's mind-blowing. Very, very cool."

The rehearsals process was demanding because everything in the scene had to be very specific.

"We would do rehearsals and then footage would be sent off to the director, to Greta. She would have a look and then come back and say right, we need to change this, we need to think about this direction. So that was a bit of toing and froing," he said.

"You'd spend so much time rehearsing a really set structure or piece of choreography, and then come back and go, oh no, I've only just got that and now we have to change it."

The work was hard, but there was a lot of enjoyment along the way, Liam remembers.

"The rehearsal process was really good fun. I think the whole project was fun because of the Kens that were on it - the other dancers.

"It was just a laugh, you know. You go into work and you're just so excited because everyone's really great and being part of the whole thing was just magical."

Gosling did not attend rehearsals with the dancers but Liu did rehearse his part with them.

"It was nice to share the studio with him," Liam said.

Once the dancers went onto the set for filming, anticipation was running high. "It was a bit of a shock. Everyone's very excited because on set was amazing.

"In the film it's a big open white space so there's no actual set but they have these stairs that go up either side. So very vast, and it was all done with lighting," Liam explained.

"But then Ryan Gosling walks in the room and you just go - 'that's Ryan Gosling!'

"Once you get over the initial 'oh my god', everyone's human. Everyone's the scene, and it that scene we're all Kens dancing about being Ken, so you're on the same level in that sense. So that was nice."

Although Liam knew the film was going to be big because of the roster of stars both starring in and producing it, he was unprepared for the exact extent of the phenomenon Barbie has become since its release.

"I didn't expect the amount of hype that it was getting. It's the biggest film in the world right now and it's just bonkers.

"Covid hit cinemas as well as dance and arts and all that. But to have a film that's completely sold out still and it's been maybe a week, maybe two now since it got released, it's just incredible.

"It's really lovely to be a part of that hype. Even if it is just a small smidge of that, my name is still in that credit."

Liam was expecting the film to a "fun, silly kind of film - being Barbie you just expect it, but it's a really great film.

"It's very funny, it's got a lot of heart and it's not just for children. I think it's split 50:50, if not more projected towards adults."

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

"I was a big fan when I was younger of the big Hollywood films like Singing in the Rain and they do the dream sequence, the big vast open space.

"When we were on set and we were doing a take and they'd shout 'action', I'd have that small moment of pure joy just living my little six-year-old boy's fantasy of being in Singing in the Rain and doing these dream sequences," he said.

"I feel like the whole project and being a part of it was my little gift to my six-year-old self to say, look at you now, look what you've done."

Liam is not the only Welshman who made an appearance in the film, with Gavin and Stacey actor Rob Brydon playing Sugar Daddy Ken.

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

There are several Barbies in the film, including Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Scottish actress Sharon Rooney, Alexandra Shipp, popstar Dua Lipa, whose song Dance The Night features on the soundtrack, and Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie.

Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Rhea Pearlman and Michael Cera also have roles, while Kingsley Ben-Adir, who recently looked to Butetown in Cardiff for inspiration for his part in Marvel's Secret Invasion, plays another Ken.