Yes, you too can now dress like Ryan Gosling: The actor’s viral Doctor Who shirt, which he wore on the set of Barbie and features Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa on it, can now be bought online.
Earlier this week, Gatwa shared an image of the 41-year-old actor on his Instagram story. He and Gosling have been working together on Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film.
In the since-expired post, shared via Variety, Gosling could be seen in a black t-shirt shirt featuring Gatwa as the Doctor on it.
“Dolls supporting doctors,” Gatwa wrote in the caption. “Yass king. As if I couldn’t love him anymore.”
In May, it was announced that Gatwa will be staring as the Fourteenth Doctor in Doctor Who. Gatwa will replace Jodie Whittaker in the role, as she’ll be leaving the series at the end of 2022.
The shirt, which can be bought on RedBubble, was designed by a fan and artist named Matthew Purchase. On Instagram, Purchase expressed how excited he was to see Gosling in a shirt that he designed.
“Well this is a bit nuts! The Ryan Gosling wearing a fake t-shirt with my artwork in front of Ncuti Gatwa on set of Barbie,” he wrote in the caption. “It’s incredible, ridiculous and mildly annoying all at the same time.”
As Purchase announced on Twitter that his artwork was up for sale on RedBubble, he also acknowledged that he didn’t entirely own the image in his design.
“As worn by Ryan Gosling! Sold by the artist!,” he wrote on Twiter. “I’ve added my Ncuti Gatwa piece to Redubble, with watermark as worn by Ryan. As I don’t own everything in the image, approximately 50 per cent of the proceeds I will make will go to The Goboka Rwanda Trust.”
According to its official website, The Goboka Rwanada Trust “is a small UK register charity that supports and delivers projects to help the Rwanda peopple, their families and communites”. The charity is also run by volunteers and is capable of doing its work because of “the continued support of its partners in the UK and in Rawanda”.
After Gosling’s outfit made headlines, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies pointed out that the shirt wasn’t official merchandise and made a joke about suing The Notebook star.
“This is, genuinely, Ryan Gosling wearing a t-shirt of Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who,” Davies wrote in an Instagram post. “We’re suing him, of course. Illegal merch.”
Days later, Davies shared another Instagram post dedicated to Gosling. The post featured the notable photo of the La La Land star in the shirt with a joke from the screenwriter about how he contacted his lawyers.
“UPDATE: my Cease & Desist order against Mr Ryan Gosling reaches the High Court today at 12pm, presiding judge Mr Justice Abernathy,” he jokingly wrote. “My lawyers claim piracy; Mr Gosling’s lawyers claim he once met me in curious circumstances in the Levant. Further updates to follow.”
