Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling join Chris Van Vliet to talk about the new Warner Bros movie BARBIE which will be released on July 21, 2023. They talk about the expectations people have for the roles of Barbie & Ken, how WWE Superstar John Cena got a surprise cameo in the movie as a merman, Barbie’s existential crisis, being “Ken-adian” and much more!
John Cena was such a lovely surprise in this film as a cameo, I feel like you had something to do with this?
Margot Robbie: “I did. It was actually quite fortuitous. Yeah, it happened while we were shooting in London, I ran into him at a restaurant in London and we had worked together before. Actually, I ran into him because I went to go and pay the bill and they were like, John Cena already took care of it. I was like, what? Where is he? He’s quite a big guy. Yeah, I couldn’t see him, but I was like he’s hard to hide. Anyways, I found him and I was like what are you doing here? He was shooting at Leavesden where we shot the film as well. I was like, that’s where we are shooting Barbie. Do you want to come and be a merman in Barbie? And he was like uh, yeah. I was like surely he is not going to agree to it like that, and he did. But he’s so awesome like that.”
So much of the movie is about the expectations that people put on you. When you get cast as Ken and you get cast as Barbie, there are some big expectations that are put on you guys. Do you feel that from the moment that you get cast?
Margot Robbie: “I guess that I was on board for so long, because I was developing the project for a couple of years before that moment happened. So I guess that moment crept up on me as opposed to, Oh my God, I’m going to play Barbie now.”
Ryan Gosling: “Yeah I still feel it. Especially now as you’ve just brought it up. I had a weird 5 minute window where I wasn’t thinking about it, but now I am.”
When those first photos of you guys rollerblading on Venice Beach came out, that’s when it was like oh look at this! This feels real now.
Margot Robbie: “That was a crazy day. Because we were shooting everything in the studio in London in the studio, that was our first venture into the real world both for the movie and in the film. So, the reaction was massive, and yeah, fun.”
Ryan, what is the most Barbie thing that Barbie does?
Ryan Gosling: “Hmm, just be awesome all the time, forever, times infinity.”
Margot, what is the most Ken thing that Ken does?
Margot Robbie: “Give answers like that. He’s always there to support Barbie and big her up and, you know, everyone needs a Ken in their life.”
Ryan Gosling: “Ken needs a Ken in his life.”
Margot Robbie: “Ken’s got Alan. We know how dedicated Alan is.”
So much of this is not just about who Barbie is, but also what Barbie is. How did you figure that out? With other roles you can figure it out and you can shadow someone and figure out how they do their job. You can’t shadow Barbie.
Margot Robbie: “Well, Barbie has been around for 64 years so actually the research is pretty straightforward in regards that you can look at the brand and how it has evolved over the years and how people have reacted to Barbie when she was first invented and how they react to her now and how they reacted in the 90’s. It’s pretty fascinating, and I think when you are asking yourself what is Barbie like, you are kind of asking yourself what are we like, based on how we react to Barbie. And she has been a complicated, iconic figure over the years. So, I think there is a lot to pack about humanity and society, not to get too deep. But, and this is what it is like on the Barbie movie, you start with a simple question like what is Barbie like? And then you end up having a deep, existential conversations.”
Featured image: People
