MOVIES
Why didn’t Margot Robbie think ‘Barbie’ would see the light of day?
The leading actress, as well as its director Greta Gerwig, revealed the excitememt and skepticism about the movie being created.
When Margot Robbie first read the script of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’, she was excited but skeptical that the movie would ever get made. While the hype around the movie has grown since the release of ever more revealing trailers, as well as a global tour from the stars themselves, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that both Robbie and director Gerwig admitted they had doubts and fears about what a Barbie movie would bring.
Robbie was skeptical Barbie movie would get green light
“The first time I read the Barbie script, my reaction was, ‘Ah! This is so good. What a shame it will never see the light of day,” Robbie told BAFTA in an interview clip posted on Instagram.
“‘[They] are never going to let us make this movie.’ But they did,” she added.
Back then, Robbie was asked for details on the plot, which had been extremely vague, and her only answer was a simple, “Can’t tell ya!”
Gerwig was anxious about writing the script for Barbie
In an interview with British Vogue, Robbie spoke of how the movie will portray the famous doll, saying that it comes both with a lot of baggage and nostalgia.
“People generally hear ‘Barbie’ and think, ‘I know what that movie is going to be,’ and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they’re like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I don’t...’”
Gerwig opened up about her anxiety writing the script for the movie in an interview with singer Dua Lipa last November saying:
“It was terrifying. I think there’s something about starting from that place where it’s like, ‘Well, anything is possible,’” she said on the ‘At Your Service’ podcast. “It felt like vertigo starting to write it. Like, where do you even begin? What would be the story?”
She added, “Usually, that’s where the best stuff is. When you’re like, ‘I am terrified of that.’ Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender,’ then you’re like, ‘OK, I probably should do it.’”
Gerwig added that Mattel, the company who have been making Barbie dolls since 1959, have given her plenty of creative freedom and room to play with.
“Whatever we wanted [the film] to be, they did not try to micromanage it,” she said. “They were completely onboard as partners, and that was extraordinary.”
The movie will premiere on July 21, starring Robbie as the titular doll, joined by Ryan Gosling as Ken.