Somehow, we still know surprisingly little about the upcoming Barbie movie. Thankfully, star Margot Robbie has arrived to offer a few more clues and insights, with the Oscar-nominated actress revealing to The Wall Street Journal that she will play the title character as a “child” archetype. While she did not elaborate further, Robbie did compare the character to her role in awards darling I, Tonya.
"That's why I, Tonya intrigued us so much—because people had such an immediate and strong reaction to the name 'Tonya Harding.’ It's kind of amazing to begin at a place like that."
What all of this means exactly is currently known only to Robbie, but it is likely that she will play the character as a naïve innocent before revealing the layers of complexity underneath.
Plot details for the Barbie movie remain unknown, but we do know that the story will introduce several different versions of Barbie and Ken, with rumors suggesting that the story will begin in some sort of “Barbie” world where everyone is either a Barbie or a Ken. The main Ken (or Ken Prime) will be played by Ryan Gosling, with the likes of Simu Liu and Ncuti Gatwa as other versions of Ken. As for Barbies, Issa Rae and Hari Nef will play the famous doll alongside Margot Robbie.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach, the rest of the cast includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel.
Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Has Heaped Praise on Margot Robbie’s Performance
However, Robbie's portrayal of Barbie has clearly worked for director Greta Gerwig, who has heaped praise on her lead. "She is an actor who comes armed with every piece of preparation and every possibility explored," Gerwig said before calling Robbie "fully present as a producer."
The filmmaker has also been "amazed by [Robbie's] ability to fully give over to being an actor" and added that "Margot has a flash of certainty and then runs at it. She doesn't have a waffling aspect to her psyche."
All we really know for sure about Barbie is that it will work hard to subvert our expectations. Robbie herself has described the story as being “a little left of center” before adding, "Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, 'Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is,' but our goal is to be like, 'Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different — the thing you didn’t know you wanted.'”
Her co-star Simu Liu meanwhile has called the Barbie movie “meta,” saying, “This is the type of movie that I love, unabashedly. It’s smart, it’s subversive, and it’s meta, and it makes fun of itself. How did they understand it enough to green light it? I think that’s props to not only Greta but also to Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley who produced it.”
Barbie is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 21, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.