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Greta Gerwig’sBarbiehas taken the world by storm, breaking records andcrossing the impressive $1 billion mark at the box office. This remarkable achievement has made Gerwig the first female director to reach this milestone, solidifying her place in cinematic history. Despite facingstrong competition from the equally record-breakingOppenheimer, Gerwig’s Barbillion success remains undisputed. The movie’s triumph can also be attributed to its stellar cast, led by the talentedMargot Robbie, who starred as the world’s beloved doll, Barbie.
Robbie’s path to securing the role of Barbie in the live-action adaptation was an unconventional one. Despite her status as an accomplished actress, Margot was settling for a different — and more behind-the-camera — role within theBarbieproject. Robbie is also a producer on the film and was initially prepared to have someone else take on the iconic role. So, how did the star end up playing Barbie herself? Read on to find out!
Was Margot Robbie Offered the Role of Barbie?
In aTeen Vogue interview, Robbie remarked, “I produced the film, so I guess I cast myself.” As a producer, Robbie didn’t go through a formal audition process for the Barbie role. However, her producer role didn’t automatically secure her the part of Barbie. Robbie reportedly made it clear that the final decision rests with Gerwig, the film’s director. She emphasized herreadiness to let someone else take the roleif that’s what the film needed.In a prior interview with Collider’sPerri Nemiroff(conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike) Robbie explained (see it in the player above):
“I didn’t want whoever our director was going to be – Greta being the first choice, but if she had said no – I didn’t want our director to feel pressured to put me in the role. So I was really upfront about like, ‘I won’t be offended in the slightest. We could go to anyone. Whatever story you want to tell and whoever you want that to be, I support that. I’ve got skin in the game as a producer, I don’t have skin in the game as an actor, so be free with that choice.'”
Are There Audition Tapes You Can Watch?
Having not gone through the formal audition process for the role of Barbie, Margot Robbie’s audition tapes are not currently available to the public, or at least there is no public knowledge of them. As we said above, Robbie initially made sure to let Gerwig know that she had full control of the casting choice. However, the situation took an interesting turn when Gerwig decided to tailor the role specifically for Robbie.
Despite Robbie’s initial reservations about influencing Gerwig’s casting decisions, she eventually came to realize that Gerwig truly wanted her to play Barbie. On top of that, Gerwig also includedRyan Goslingin the script as “Ken - Ryan Gosling,“alongside Margot as “Barbie - Margot.” Both their names were printed in the script right from the get-go, making it evident that they were the chosen duo for the iconic roles. But here’s a bit of a bonus: we do have aRyan GoslingSNLsketchthat’s… well, it basically works as Gosling’s ‘Barbie’ audition tape:
‘Barbie’: How Margot Robbie Helped Ryan Gosling Live His Best Malibu Ken Life
The movie will also feature Simu Liu and John Cena as Kens.
Who Else Was Up for the Part of Barbie?
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, in an earlier version of theBarbiemovie, actress-comedianAmy Schumerwas initially selected to portray the titular doll. The storyline was centered around a woman who finds herself in a fish-out-of-water scenario, getting expelled from Barbieland for not embodying the ideal image of perfection. However, after four months, Schumer decided to drop out of the project due to conflicting schedules, leaving the role of Barbie open for someone else to take on. As a result, the movie continued to undergo changes, and the casting decision evolved into what it is today.
Vanity Fairreports that during the summer of 2017,Anne Hathawaywas under considerationfor the role of Barbie. Around this time, Sony had appointedOlivia Milch, the writer ofOcean’s 8, andAlethea Joneswas announced as the director leading the development of the film. However, by 2018, Sony’s option on the project came to an end, and the rights reverted to Mattel, the company that owns the Barbie brand. As a result of this change in ownership, the film’s release date was postponed from its initial schedule in the summer of 2018 to the summer of 2020. Unfortunately, shortly after this announcement, the version of the film featuring Hathaway fell apart and did not come to fruition.
Did Margot Robbie Work With the Cast or Crew Before Barbie?
In aone-on-one interview for Vogue, Robbie and director Gerwig explained the history of their relationship, which goes way back to the time when Robbie starred inI, Tonya, and Gerwig was working on the Oscar-nominatedLady Bird. Despite frequently encountering each other at various events, it wasn’t until they had a proper meeting that things began to take shape. During this meeting, Gerwig couldn’t help but express her genuine admiration for Robbie’s incredible talent, sparking the idea of collaborating on a project together. Interestingly, Robbie had already been acquainted with Gerwig’s work, having watched not onlyLady Birdbut also other films Gerwig developed with her partnerNoah Baumbach, who also happens to be the co-writer of the script forBarbie. Robbie playfully hailed Gerwig as the “queen of the indie scene,” but it took a couple of years before fate brought them together to work on a project.
Before her involvement withBarbie, Robbie had considerable experience working with acclaimed female directors, most notablyCathy YanforBirds of PreyandJosie RourkeforMary Queen of Scots. When it comes to choosing projects, Robbie doesn’t specifically consider whether a director is male or female; however,she has spoken highly of Gerwig’s directorial approach:
“If I may add on to that, when I make my list of dream directors I want to work with, I don’t divide it into dream lady directors and dream dude directors. It’s like, “Who are my top 5 dream directors?” And Greta’s on that list because she is just an incredible dream director. She is an auteur. She is gonna be the [Stanley] Kubrick of our generation, or whoever she wants to be. She’s gonna be her own thing. It’s not even about female director or not, she just is one of the greats of our generation.”
