Editor's Note: This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
There are many reasons writer-director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (co-written with Noah Baumbach) is one of this year’s most anticipated releases. Not only does the film rock a bold and original script, but the movie’s star and producer, Academy Award nominee Margot Robbie, is joined by a wildly impressive roster of top-tier talent including Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, and Michael Cera.
In the film, Barbie Land is Mattel’s iconic brand come to life on screen. The imaginative world is full of Barbie’s (Robbie) friends like President Barbie (Rae), Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef), the Kens (Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, and more), and even those who live on the outskirts of "perfection" like 1964’s Allan (Cera) and the mystical Weird Barbie played by McKinnon.
In anticipation of Barbie’s nationwide release on July 21st, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff had the opportunity to sit down with Barbie Land residents Rae, McKinnon, and Cera to talk about their characters and experience working with Gerwig. During their conversation McKinnon discussed the evolution of Weird Barbie, Cera gave his thoughts on what Barbie Land might look like if Allan took over, and Rae talked about how seeing what was accomplished on Barbie made her rethink her "IP fatigue."
For all of this and more, check out Perri’s interview with McKinnon, Cera, and Rae in the video above or read the conversation in transcript form below.
PERRI NEMIROFF: Kate, Weird Barbie speaks to me, but I imagine this is the type of character you can’t fully process on the page alone, so what’s the biggest difference between how you first envisioned Weird Barbie when you read the script and then who she became the more you dug into the role and played on the set with the costume and all that good stuff?
KATE MCKINNON: It was pretty similar. I read it and I was like, “Okay, she wrote this perfect. I don’t have to change a word. I get it. I know what it is.” The costume involved an imagining and I was like, “Well, what does she wear?” Because Weird Barbies typically have been stripped of all of their clothes and possessions, but I didn’t want to be naked in the movie. So I thought about, would a person have reappropriated a babydoll dress and put it on the Barbie? What household items would be available to put on the Barbie? So that was a surprise, but the rest was really just, they wrote it so good. It didn’t need much.
Every single Barbie my sister had was a Weird Barbie, so now all I can picture is a Barbie Land filled with Weird Barbies, and that’d be her world and I love it.
ISSA RAE: What a perfect world.
I would watch that movie! I would love that movie.
RAE: Me too.
Michael, let’s say Allan took over Barbie Land. What might it look like? What song would be playing in the car, what movie would he be watching, if not cowboys and horses, what would the dominant theme be?
MICHAEL CERA: It’s a really difficult question because Allan, he sort of recedes as a character. He would definitely not want to listen to that Ken song anymore, ever again. I don’t know, what did Allan like to listen to, you think?
RAE: Soft rock.
CERA: Soft rock, yeah. He was discontinued in 1967, so that’s like the limbo that he lives in. So maybe like “Crimson and Clover” forever on a loop.
MCKINNON: People are dogging on it. Allan’s kids are fed, you know? Allan has insurance on everything. Allan is doing great!
CERA: Allan’s holding it down.
MCKINNON: Allan’s partner is very happy with him, and it’s fine. Allan rocks. Come here. [Shakes Cera’s hand]
Allan does rock! Justice for Allan, always.
Issa for you, a behind-the-scenes question because I love your work on camera, but I also am a big admirer of all of your producing work, and I love what this movie does in that respect. Having worked on Barbie, is there anything you were all able to accomplish on this film that illuminated the possibilities of making a bold movie like this with a really strong voice that you might want to pursue as a producer going forward?
RAE: To be 100% honest, I’ve been IP-fatigued, you know? I’m just like, “Why does every movie have to be IP?!” But to see what Greta and Noah [Baumbach] are able to do with this film and they made it their own and it was fun, and they were able to make fun of Mattel in a way and Mattel embraced that. They got to write, essentially, what they wanted. Margot didn’t think that this would be made, and it seemed like they accomplished a lot of what they set out to do, so it gave me hope that, while it’s not something that I’ll pursue actively first, but that if it comes my way, I won’t rebuke it.
Now that I’m curious, is there any particular IP that speaks to you where it’s got an untapped creative corner that you would go after?
RAE: I haven’t thought about that. I’d have to get back to you on that. Maybe – I don’t know.
Fair enough! Whatever it winds up being, sign me up for it.
RAE: Thank you!
I’m a big fan of Greta’s, so can you each tell me something about her as a collaborator and actor’s director that makes her stand out and you hope to experience on future projects you work on?
MCKINNON: She’s smiling every second. She is indefatigable. I’ve never seen someone with so much pure joy and energy and collaborative spirit just literally sucking the best out of everyone around her. I was like, how is she still standing and having this much energy and enthusiasm? It was amazing.
RAE: Perfectly put. She made me not want to be the director because I will never have as much fun as she did on that set. [Laughs] So, thank you for crushing any ambition.
CERA: You also feel like she’s noticing everything you’re doing.
RAE: Yes!
CERA: There’s so much happening, and you feel like she’s paying attention to the actors. She’s really focused on actors. And so relaxed within this giant machinery to just make stuff – at some point, she was like, “Maybe at the end we should do this instead of this,” and just able to sort of extemporize even with these millions of dollars being spent every day. Incredibly impressive.
Looking for even more on the new Barbie movie? Check out Perri's conversation with Greta Gerwig below:
