Barbie: “I would not have done it” … Margot Robbie demanded this condition to play in the film

In Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, currently in theaters, Margot Robbie embodies the perfect stereotypical doll: slender, blonde with long hair, blue eyes… The actress, nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress in 2018 for Me, Tonya, was the ideal candidate to play the doll created in 1959 by Ruth Handler and named after her daughter Barbara. The latter is also the producer of the feature film and was therefore involved in the project very early on.

Since the creation of the iconic doll, Barbie has evolved. To date, there are more than 175 kinds of Barbies, many of which are presented in the film by Greta Gerwig, who also called on her childhood memories a lot in the development of the film.

Barbie was thus the first woman astronaut, she is also president, judge, lawyer, journalist, Nobel Prize, footballer, astrophysicist… The dolls have also evolved physically, some are brown, African-American, Asian, Muslim, Indian. The size of the toys has evolved over the years, some are smaller, others rounder and Mattel has also launched a range of disabled dolls: after Barbie in a wheelchair, Barbie with a hearing aid and Barbie with vitiligo, the brand has launched a Barbie doll with trisomy 21.

So many iterations that are found in the feature film worn by Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, America Ferrera and Simu Liu. And for Margot Robbie, the presence of these different dolls was THE condition for making the film.

In an interview with the magazine TIMERichard Dickson, president of Mattel, explains that Margot Robbie is the spitting image of Barbie, but that it works because she is “the gateway” to all the other Barbies in the film.

A multiplicity of Barbies

Margot Robbie then explains to the magazine: “If Mattel hadn’t agreed to this change to have a multiplicity of Barbies, I don’t think I would have wanted to try to make a Barbie movie. I don’t think you should say, ‘This is the only version of Barbie and this is what women should aspire to be.’

“If all of these women are Barbie, then Barbie is all of these women.”

Same story from the side of Greta Gerwig who declares in the press kit: “The idea of ​​the multiplicity of Barbies and Kens was born from our first meeting with Mattel. The moment I started talking about multiple characters, I was told, ‘No, we don’t have different characters. All of these women embody Barbie.’ And I told them that if all those women were Barbie, then Barbie was all those women. And I was told ‘Yes, indeed‘” recalls Greta Gerwig.

Issa Raewho plays Barbie President continues: “Initially, I was concerned that the film would be too feminist and white, but I think Margot is self-aware. Barbie Land is perfect, and represents perfection. If perfection was just a bunch of white Barbies, that wouldn’t have suited me and I don’t know if anyone can agree with that“.

Mattel and self-mockery

Richard Dickson concludes: “It was about finding the right talent who could appreciate the authenticity of the brand and bring this controversy to life in a way that admittedly makes fun of us, but ultimately has purpose and heart.”. Because even if the film was produced by Mattel, the brand is not spared.

Warner Bros.

In Barbie, Will Ferrell plays the CEO of Mattel and all the important positions in the company are held by white men. If the latter like to say that they work so that little girls around the world can identify with a doll and feel less alone, the real reason is obviously financial. And it’s quite surprising that a film, produced by a brand, has so much self-mockery about the brand in question.

A surprise shared by Margot Robbie who, upon reading the script by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, had declared that the studios would never let them make this film.

During our meeting with the team (see above), Issa Rae also confided to us that she was surprised when reading the script: “I was surprised that Mattel let this pass!“

A tour de force that we owe to Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.

Barbie is in theaters now.