Margot Robbie Explains How She Got Into The Mind Of Barbie (& Compares Her To Gal Gadot)
What is it like to delve into the mind — or lack thereof — of Barbie? Margot Robbie figured it out, according to a profile in Vogue.
Interviewed alongside her writer-director Greta Gerwig and co-star Ryan Gosling in Vogue, Robbie said that playing Barbie in the upcoming movie was more difficult than you'd think — in that Barbie has to walk a very fine line between cute and downright sexual. (Let's not forget that Barbie is, uh, not quite anatomically correct.)
"I'm like, Okay, she's a doll," Robbie told the outlet of trying to figure out what made Barbie tick. "She's a plastic doll. She doesn't have organs. If she doesn't have organs, she doesn't have reproductive organs. If she doesn't have reproductive organs, would she even feel sexual desire? No, I don't think she could."
Beyond that scientific explanation, Robbie elaborated: "She is sexualized. But she should never be sexy. People can project sex onto her. Yes, she can wear a short skirt, but because it's fun and pink. Not because she wanted you to see her butt."
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie had Gal Gadot on the brain when they thought of Barbie
As it turns out, Gerwig and Robbie had a very specific movie star in mind during the casting process when it came to that "Barbie energy" — Gal Gadot. Apparently, the "Wonder Woman" and "Red Notice" star just has that Barbie vibe they both looked for as they watched auditions and discussed names... and sadly, Gadot wasn't available for the project. Despite that, Robbie said, "Gal Gadot is Barbie energy. Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don't hate her for being that beautiful, because she's so genuinely sincere, and she's so enthusiastically kind, that it's almost dorky. It's like right before being a dork."
Instead of Gadot, the pair booked a veritable murderer's row of actresses to play Barbie alongside Robbie, including but not limited to Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Sharon Rooney, Ana Cruz Kayne, Alexandra Shipp, and Kate McKinnon. (Ken gets his own multiverse as well; the ones we've seen the most so far are Gosling's and Simu Liu's.) Gadot might not be in "Barbie," but she was obviously a huge influence.
Greta Gerwig told Margot Robbie to listen to this podcast to understand Barbie
There was one other major influence on Robbie's performance as Barbie — and it came from an NPR podcast. According to the profile, Robbie likes to use animal imagery for her roles; her character in "Babylon," Nell, was apparently a mix between an octopus and a honey badger, whereas Tonya Harding in "I, Tonya" was "a pit bull in life and a mustang on the ice." Unable to find an animal for Barbie, Robbie turned to Gerwig for help, and got her answer.
After trying out "flamingo" for Barbie (which Robbie says didn't work), Robbie remembers, "I was like, Greta, I need to go on this whole character journey. And Greta was like, 'Oh, I have a really good podcast for you.'"
That podcast was NPR's "This American Life," and the episode in particular is titled "What Lies Beneath," about a woman named Diane who struggles to look inward and introspect. "You know how you have a voice in your head all the time?" Robbie says. "This woman, she doesn't have that voice in her head." Apparently, this did the trick, and Robbie was off to the races.
With or without thoughts in her head, Robbie's interpretation of Barbie arrives in theaters on July 21, 2023.