Barbie Stars Talk Playing Unexpected Role Models (Exclusive)

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is being released in theaters next week, and the first reactions to the film have been extremely positive. The movie stars Margot Robbie as the titular doll and Ryan Gosling as Ken, but they’re not the only big stars on the line-up. The cast also includes America Ferrera as a human from the real world named Gloria, and Kate McKinnon as a Barbie who got played with too hard. At one point in the film, Ferrera gives a very empowering speech that is sure to strike a chord with women and girls. As for Mckinnon, her “Weird Barbie” also has the ability to inspire viewers to be their true selves. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with Ferrera and McKinnon, and we asked about taking on parts that can be perceived as relatable role models. 

“What was first exciting was like I don’t have to do that much. I don’t have to stretch,” McKinnon joked. “It was like, ‘Oh, this I can do,’ because that’s like, it’s just what I would say naturally and how I would act.” She added, “Was I thinking about inspiring people? No, but if it gives some young people a sense of being able to just be themselves, then yes, thank God.” 

“‘How do I be a whole role model today?’ Ferrera joked. “No, I did not … Look, what I get excited about is getting to explore a truth. And when I read the script and read that part of it, it felt so true and it needed to be said. It’s like it hits you in the guts and what a joy to get to be the one who says it, but also it just feels important for us to hear it.” 

Greta Gerwig on Capturing All Sides of Barbie:

While talking to ComicBook.com, Gerwig also explained the importance of telling the positive and negative sides of Barbie. 

“I think it’s just that, stepping into this sort of thorniness and the complications of it and not wallpapering over anything that felt yucky, that we wanted to create the story out of what felt like things that you couldn’t say,” Gerwig told ComicBook.com’s Jamie Jirak. “We wanted to say it and see where that led us. I think that that was at the heart of it. Then, also, just how do you capture the joy and the excitement of being a little girl looking at that stuff and just loving it and the hair and the sparkles and all the things? there’s a real sense memory of that. Then also being able to look at it as a grown woman and being like, ‘I see it all differently now,’ and being able to honor both of them. That was kind of a trick of the movie.”

What Is Barbie About?

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hits theaters on July 21st. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel. 

Editors note: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG actors’ strike.