Think pink: Barbie comes out to play in first live-action movie

LOS ANGELES – Greta Gerwig is known for her work in indie cinema, which makes the acclaimed American film-maker and actress an unlikely choice to write and direct the first live-action movie about, of all things, Barbie dolls.

And the writer-director of coming-of-age drama Lady Bird (2017) – which earned Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominations for Gerwig – is well aware that the popular playthings, which were launched in 1959, have been accused of promoting materialism and unrealistic images of the female body.

But she set about creating Barbie, a film that would both satirise and celebrate the iconic toy with the endless wardrobe.

Gerwig spoke on Sunday at the star-studded Los Angeles premiere for the hotly anticipated movie, which opens in Singapore cinemas on July 20 but is already getting glowing reviews on social media, with those who have seen it describing it as smart and funny.

The 39-year-old says she wanted to give Barbie more layers and depth.

“Since I was a little girl, I knew about Barbie and I knew the arguments against Barbie in the same breath. With the icon that Barbie is, what’s interesting is her complexity, not her perfection, and that’s what we try to really dig into with the movie,” says Gerwig, who co-wrote the script with collaborator and partner Noah Baumbach. She and the 53-year-old American film-maker have two sons aged four years and two months, respectively.

The couple came up with a playful, satirical fantasy comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and her male counterpart Ken, who are forced to contend with the real world and existential crises after being expelled from the idyllic Barbie Land.

The rest of the cast includes America Ferrera and Will Ferrell, as well as a host of stars playing different versions of Ken and Barbie – among them Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) actor Simu Liu and pop singer Dua Lipa.

It was Robbie who began talking to Gerwig – whose period drama Little Women (2019) scored Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nominations – about writing and directing Barbie, which Robbie spearheaded through her own production company LuckyChap Entertainment.

And the company painstakingly negotiated a deal with film studio Warner Bros and toy giant Mattel, which manufactures the dolls, to ensure Gerwig and Baumbach could write whatever they wanted.

Australian actress Robbie – who was a Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee for dramas I, Tonya (2017) and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019), respectively, and gained wider recognition playing anti-heroine Harley Quinn in the DC Extended Universe films – says: “I don’t think most of us would’ve been involved if it wasn’t Greta at the helm.

“What she does with her films is, she’s so smart, but also delivers on the humour and the emotion, and we knew we wanted all that in a Barbie movie.”

The 33-year-old actress also understands that not everyone likes Barbie dolls.

In a Vogue interview in May, she said: “We have to acknowledge that there are a lot of people who aren’t fans of Barbie – and, in fact, aren’t just indifferent to Barbie. They actively hate Barbie and have a real issue with Barbie. We need to find a way to acknowledge that.”

Gerwig says she and Baumbach – who directed her in Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015), two quirky indie comedies they co-wrote – came up with the story during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, when they, like many in Hollywood, did not know if there were going to be movies again.

But they thought that, should they get the chance to make another film, “let’s write the most outrageous, anarchic, hilarious thing”, she recalls.

With its A-list cast and director, as well as a formidable marketing campaign, there has been plenty of buzz ahead of the film, of which no one knows what to expect.

Further fuelling this is a viral TikTok video featuring American reality-television stars and models Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Lori Harvey strutting to Barbie World, the soundtrack single by rappers Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.

Gosling, 42, says the movie defies easy categorisation.

It is “a different ride for everyone – everyone can have their own experience, and that’s the beauty of it”, adds the Canadian actor, who received Best Actor Oscar nominations for the romantic musical La La Land (2016) and drama Half Nelson (2006).

Ferrera, who plays a Mattel employee who finds Barbie in the real world, believes the film is such a visually stunning tale that it can awaken one’s inner child.

Says the 39-year-old American actress, who won a Best Actress Emmy for the comedy series Ugly Betty (2006 to 2010): “I remember walking onto the sets and gasping, and I didn’t even play with Barbies growing up.

“It evoked a deeper childhood nostalgia for imagination, play and beauty.”

The film also reflects the diversity of Barbie dolls available today, she adds.

“She has different skin colours, abilities, body types and careers, and the message is what’s beautiful about us is our uniqueness, and we have permission to embrace that.”

To be released in full later in July, the film’s soundtrack, Barbie: The Album, features songs by Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Ava Max, Charli XCX and Tame Impala.

Eilish attended the Barbie premiere with her brother Finneas O’Connell, who produced the single she wrote, What Was I Made For?.

The 21-year-old American singer, who was behind chart-toppers such as Bad Guy (2019), felt the immense pressure Gerwig was under as she worked on the film.

“It’s such a big ask, to make a movie about Barbie,” Eilish says.

But the result is “cool and beautiful and touching, and it acknowledges all the issues (surrounding) Barbie but also the incredible aspects of Barbie and girl power”.

As a celebration of female empowerment, it is fitting that women took the lead on both sides of the camera here.

Says Issa Rae, who plays President Barbie: “This was such an incredible experience, specifically because Greta’s energy just radiates throughout the set – she’s such a wonderful person and a visionary.”

The 38-year-old American actress, who starred in and created the Emmy-nominated comedy series Insecure (2016 to 2021), adds: “And there was Margot producing the film and being such a talented actress.”

Gerwig actively cultivated a fun, convivial atmosphere on and off set, hosting a slumber party at a London hotel for the actresses playing the Barbies, and suggesting that the actors playing the Kens exercise together.

This was how Liu, 34, found himself bonding with Gosling over push-ups.

“It was so amazing working out with each and every one of (the Kens), but it was impossible to beat Ryan to the gym and impossible to leave after him – the man was a workout machine,” says the Canadian star.

“I loved bonding with him and with all the other Kens.”

Although no sequel has been announced, Rae says she would reprise her role in a heartbeat.

“I would love to come back for another Barbie movie – many Barbie movies. It was just such a fun time. And I want to live in Barbie Land.”