Barbie Adds Marisa Abela to Cast

Barbie has added Marisa Abela as the latest member of the Mattel movie. Deadline reports that Margot Robbie’s big dreamhouse will make room for one more in Greya Gerwig’s highly-anticipated project. The cast is already stacked with Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Micheal Cera, Hari New, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Alexandra Shipp all inked to appear. If Barbie was nothing more than these stars in wild costumes hanging out, then people would still be ready o pack theaters to see it. As ever, Warner Bros. is keeping a tight lid on the plot of this movie. That scarcity of context has led to some amazing fan art and posts about Barbie. It doesn’t hurt that the studio is slickly seeding images of Robbie and her co-stars in iconic looks from the doll’s history.

“Barbie is one of the most iconic franchises in the world and we are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures and Margot Robbie to bring her to life on the big screen,” Ynon Kreiz, Chairman and CEO of Mattel, told fans when the movie was officially announced. “We look forward to building on this collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures as we tell the stories of our beloved brands. Mattel Films is on a path to demonstrate the enormous potential of our brand portfolio, as we continue to execute on our strategy of transforming Mattel into an IP-driven, high performing toy company.”

Empire Magazine actually sat down with Emma Mackey to discuss how this massive cast got to know each other. She says that the tone of this movie will be as bright and fun as the Internet is hoping. 

“Right in the beginning, we had a sleepover for the Barbies, which would involve playing games with Scott [Evans] and Ncuti [Gatwa],” Mackey explained of the process. Then things turned to table tennis. “I don’t play games usually, because I get so competitive and angry. But Scott and I were top of the game. It’s great to do comedy, because Emily was a sad, dark drama. Barbie is light and funny and silly and American and pink.”

Mackey said of working with Gerwig, “She’s everything I could have dreamed of. She’s so invested and precise, and so childishly delighted by what she’s doing. Scorsese said, ‘Never lose the amateur in you.’ I see Greta behind her monitor laughing, and she’ll reference something very niche and it will make total sense in that moment. Her mind is fizzing all the time. I love being around those kinds of people.”

Who else do you think will end up in Barbie? Let us know down in the comments!