Margot Robbie has revealed she would have rejected the Barbie movie if toy company Mattel hadn’t diversified its world-famous doll.
The Wolf of Wall Street actress stars as the title character in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming summer blockbuster alongside Ryan Gosling and a diverse cast that includes Issa Rae, America Ferrera, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, and Dua Lipa.
Ahead of the film’s release, Margot explained she didn’t want to present a singular image of “what Barbie is” nor “what women should aspire to be and look like”.
In a new interview with Time magazine, she shared that she and Greta had told Mattel’s chief executive Ynon Kreiz that the film had to “acknowledge certain things”.
“In that very first meeting, we impressed upon Ynon we are going to honour the legacy of your brand, but if we don’t acknowledge certain things—if we don’t say it, someone else is going to say it,” Margot said.
“So you might as well be a part of that conversation.”
Margot continued: “If [Mattel] hadn’t made that change to have a multiplicity of Barbies, I don’t think I would have wanted to attempt to make a Barbie film.
“I don’t think you should say, ‘This is the one version of what Barbie is, and that’s what women should aspire to be and look like and act like’.”
During filming, the president of Mattel allegedly took a flight to the London set to argue with Greta and Margot over a particular scene, which he felt was off brand.
The collaborators, however, were able to change his mind after demonstrating the “nuance” that was not evident in the script, Margot told the publication.
The Barbie Fashionistas line, which began in 1959, has seen more than 175 looks with different skin tones, hair textures, body sizes and dolls with different disabilities.
Set to hit cinemas on July 21, the movie sees Barbie leave the utopian Barbie Land after questioning her mortality and travelling to the real world with Ken.