TV & Movies
Margot Robbie Asked Barbie Director Greta Gerwig To Include This Detail
“Whatever you want this Barbie movie to be, let’s do that. Except I just have one favor.”
No Barbie Dreamhouse is complete without an epic waterslide into the pool — just ask Margot Robbie. During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Robbie, alongside her Barbie co-stars America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, and Issa Rae, spoke about growing up and playing with Barbie dolls and how these memories might have contributed to their roles. Though Robbie had borrowed her cousin’s dolls growing up, she did mention getting the “fold-out house” one year for Christmas, and she was “obsessed.”
Robbie was apparently so obsessed with the Barbie Dreamhouse that she brought it up to director Greta Gerwig when initially discussing the movie, which premieres July 21. “I’ll follow your vision. Whatever you want this Barbie movie to be, let’s do that. Except I just have one favor,” Robbie explained. “Please, please, please can we have a Dreamhouse where she has a slide that goes from her bedroom down to her pool because that is my goal in life.” Which, is relatable.
Robbie’s wish came true — in the first trailer for the movie, you can see her sliding down the Palms Springs-inspired Barbie Dreamhouse’s slide into a pool. Among the other details similar to the IRL Barbie Dreamhouse are the openness and lack of walls, along with pink furniture and accessories.
There was in fact so much pink that there was a shortage of the color as a result of the movie. “The world ran out of pink,” production designer Sarah Greenwood told Architectural Digest, referring to the Rosco paint used.
Robbie also spoke about the plot of the movie, which was previously shrouded in mystery but has since been dispelled thanks to recent trailers. “Barbieland is perfect,” she began, “and the Barbies are having perfect day after perfect day. And everything’s just wonderful in Barbieland, unless you’re a Ken...or until you have an existential crisis, which my Barbie does.”
The Australian actor told Hollywood Reporter in December 2020 that the plot wasn’t going to be what fans expected. “Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different — the thing you didn’t know you wanted,” she previously said.
Ryan Gosling, who portrays one of the Kens, also spoke mysteriously about the plot in 2022. “It’s not what you think it is, unless it is. And then you know what it is. But I don’t think that’s what you think it is.”
