Barbie director Greta Gerwig opened up about the literary inspiration behind Kate McKinnon’s weird Barbie character.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the award-winning director shared that McKinnon’s quirky character was inspired by a book called The Giver by Lois Lowry. She noted, "Remember that book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, where the giver has all the colors and the feelings and stuff? That’s sort of what I thought about Kate’s character. She would be like the giver in a way like she had the knowledge that everyone else didn’t have."
In fact, McKinnon’s stand-out haircut in the film has a special connection to Gerwig’s childhood and is a direct result of the experiences she had playing with Barbie dolls as a young girl. She shared, "We grew up in a neighborhood where there were a lot of girls older than me. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies that had already gotten a haircut by the time I got them. It was like, 'Well, we have to do that.' It felt almost like a spiritual conduit to the world of play through that Barbie."
The highly-anticipated Barbie movie is set to release in theaters on July 21, 2023. Led by Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie, the star-studded ensemble cast includes A-listers like Ryan Reynolds as Ken, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, and more. The film is modeled after the world of the iconic Barbie dolls by Mattel and traces Barbie and Ken as they set off on a journey of self discovery.
Elsewhere in the interview, Gerwig shared her creative direction in ensuring that Ken had an equally significant arc in the film as Robbie’s Barbie. She always knew that Gosling would be the most ideal fit for the role of Ken.
"From the moment that Margot came to me and I knew we were making this for Margot, I equally knew we were making this for Ryan," Gerwig said. Despite never having met Gosling before, the director "was sure" that he was the one to take on the role. According to Greta, Gosling was a combination of Marlon Brando, Gene Wilder, John Barrymore and John Travolta. "Who else could do this?" she said.
Gerwig also disclosed that Barbie’s emotional journey in the film is similar to her own, after she decided to switch from acting to directing in her career."When you're directing something, you have to be a bit stupid about yourself, or a little bit unconscious… I had no idea [about the coincidence]," she explained.
Source: Rolling Stone