Barbie Star America Ferrera Reveals What Made Her Cry On Set (Exclusive)

Barbie is hitting theaters next week, and it sees a star-studded line-up of actors playing various Barbies and Kens led by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. The Greta Gerwig-directed film also features a handful of human characters, including one played by America Ferrera. Recently, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Ferrera, and she talked about how she's glad she ended up cast as a human instead of a Barbie in the film. During the chat, we asked Ferrera if there were any moments from the film that transported her back to her childhood, and she revealed she cried on the first day of filming. 

"Let's see. What I remember is walking in the first day of filming and it was like the first shot and it was Margot waking up in bed on her perfect day in her heart bed," Ferrera explained. "And I looked at the screen and I just started to cry. It was just like, 'I can't believe that it's this beautiful and that it's this thoughtful and meaningful and we get this movie about a woman icon for women and it's like the movie she deserves. It's the movie we deserve.'"

Ferrera continued, "And there's positives and negatives to her and there is room for all of it in the movie, but that we didn't just get some low-budget, glossy, couple of bad, outdated jokes thing that moms would've taken their kids to see anyway." She added, "The fact that this is the version we got where there are layers and layers and layers of artistry, and it's like, 'Of course, we deserve movies like this. Of course, our stories and the things we love and value deserve to be treated like this.' And I'm just so grateful for Margot and for Greta for being the ones to shepherd it."

You can watch our interview with America Ferrera at the top of the page.

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 FerreraKate McKinnonMichael CeraAriana GreenblattIssa RaeRhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma MackeyHari NefAlexandra ShippKingsley Ben-AdirSimu LiuNcuti GatwaScott EvansJamie 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.