“I played with dolls too long”- Greta Gerwig opens up about Barbie in new interview

Barbie director Greta Gerwig recently opened up about her fascination with dolls from an early age in an interview with TIME Magazine. As Barbie hits the theaters along with Oppenheimer on July 21, 2023, fans have been waiting with bated breath to watch Gerwig's feminist sensibilities and her ability to deconstruct societal norms on the big screen yet again.

Gerwig, along with her long-time partner in crime and in life, Noah Baumbach, has written the story. It features Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, and several other A-listers. The synopsis for Barbie on IMDb says:

"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."

Gerwig says playing with dolls has helped her come up with scenarios and characters which was the basis of her vision for Barbie. She revealed:

"I played with dolls too long. I was still doing it in junior high. Kids were drinking, and I was playing with dolls.”

The biopic on the 1959 Mattel doll will also see renditions of Barbie from later years.

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"This movie is a goddamn miracle" - Greta Gerwig reimagining Barbie's narrative

Barbie, the iconic doll created by Ruth Handler, has been in multiple animated movies and cartoons since its creation gained popularity. However, Greta Gerwig is the first actor-director who has picked it up for the silver screen. She is best known for her performances in Mistress America, Rebecca Miller's Maggie's Plan, Mike Mills' 20th Century Women, and the extremely popular Frances Ha, which won her a Golden Globe nomination.

Gerwig is still can't believe she got away with making the version of the movie based on Barbie dolls that she did and describes it as a surprising, spicy margarita.

“This movie is a goddamn miracle. You can already taste the sweetness and you sort of go with the spice.”

The list of Barbies in the movie includes Robbie, Issa Rae, Nicola Coughlan, Alexandra Shipp, Hari Nef, Ritu Arya, Kate McKinnon, Sharon Rooney, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa and Ana Cruz Kayne.

The Kens will be played by Gosling, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, and Scott Evans.

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More on Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023) - Details explored

The Barbie soundtrack is a star-studded affair. The list includes Ava Max, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Charli XCX, PinkPantheress, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, HAIM, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, Ryan Gosling, Tame Impala, and The Kid Laro.

Announced in 2019, this Warner Bros. project has had Amy Schumer and Anne Hathaway in the talks for Margot Robbie's role. However, Robbie's portrayal of Barbie has taken over the internet since the poster's release. Quoting her from the TIME Magazine's interview:

"If you feel indifferent about Barbie or haven’t thought about Barbie in years, this movie is also for you.”

On the other hand, Greta Gerwig says:

“sometimes these movies can have a quality of hegemonic capitalism.”

She had to master ways in which she could add a personal touch which she added by making use of the pictures clicked by Margot Robbie on a Super 8 over the years and the footage of the cast and crew’s family and friends. She elaborated:

“It’s like sneaking in humanity to something that everybody thinks is a hunk of plastic."

Head for Greta Gerwig's Barbie when it hits theaters worldwide on July 21, 2023.