Take a peek behind the scenes to see how Gerwig’s vision turned into pink-blockbuster magic
ByAbbey Bender
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When Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was released two years ago this summer, it was a true cinematic event on a scale that hadn’t been seen for years. The live-action tale of the world’s most famous doll didn’t just inspire pink-clad audiences to come out in droves (to the tune of over $1 billion at the box office, breaking records for a movie by a female director), it also dominated the cultural conversation, spawning countless memes and think pieces and encouraging viewers to reconsider Barbie’s portrayal of womanhood and relevance in the 21st century.
One of Barbie’s most potent elements is its aesthetic. The depiction of Barbieland is gloriously pink and amusingly artificial by design, and Gerwig and her collaborators put a lot of work into creating truly transporting visuals. Read on to see fascinating behind-the-scenes photos that show just how this candy-colored world came to life.
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1. The director at work
Actress-turned-director Greta Gerwig, who previously helmed Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019), put her heart and soul into directing Barbie, saying, “As a director, you have the job of dreaming up the movie, and then you have to get everyone else in the movie—hundreds of people—to have that same dream, too.”
2. Joyful jumpsuits
Gerwig and her cast members Margot Robbie, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt are all smiles as they pose in matching pink jumpsuits. She’s known for wearing jumpsuits while directing, and has called herself a “uniform-seeker.”
3. He’s just Ken
In one of the film’s most memorable sequences, Ken (Ryan Gosling) sings a power ballad fittingly called “I’m Just Ken.”Gerwig cited classic musicals like Singin’ in the Rain as her inspiration for the scene and said, “It just said in the script, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance.’ There was a big meeting that was like, ‘Do you need this?’ And I was like, ‘Everything in me needs this.’ They were like, ‘What do you even mean? What is a dream ballet?’ And I was like, ‘A dream ballet? Where do I begin!'”
4. Surf’s up!
Ken amusingly says, “My job is just beach,” and here, we see behind the scenes of his intentionally artificial work site. Gotta love those faux pink waves!As Gerwig said, “You have a painted sky in a soundstage. Which is an illusion, but it’s also really there. The painted backdrop is really there. The tangibility of the artifice is something that we kept going back to.”
5. My ride’s here
As Barbie, Margot Robbie’s charming pink ensemble perfectly matches her retro convertible. Robbie also produced the film, and reflecting on her character, she said, “She is so iconic, but she’s also so complicated. There’s been real issues with Barbie over the years and there’s been real love. The conversation has kept evolving. I think ultimately it is a conversation we’re having about ourselves, but it’s easy to put it on Barbie.”
6. Serious business
Here, Gerwig and Barbie cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto plan a shot together. Describing his work on the film, Prieto said, “My key word for Barbie was innocence. For these toys, the world is all good. I wanted the camera to behave in a very innocent way in Barbieland. It’s usually frontal or sideways. We didn’t use any oblique angles. And that was based on the idea of opening a box.”
7. All lined up
In this shot, Gerwig and Prieto direct a line of actresses dressed up as various types of Barbies. As costume designer Jacqueline Durran described it, “The defining characteristic of what she wears is where she’s going and what she’s doing. It’s about being completely dressed for your job or task.”
8. Check it out!
We’re not sure what Gerwig and actresses Margot Robbie, Ana Cruz Kayne and Hari Nef are looking at on the laptop, but it seems pretty amusing. Gerwig said, “The process of making [Barbie] was just joy,” and we can tell!
9. Backstage Barbie
Robbie may have been perfectly cast as Barbie (and given input on the film, as seen behind the scenes here), but surprisingly, she admitted, “It wasn’t that I ever wanted to play Barbie, or dreamt of being Barbie, or anything like that. This is going to sound stupid, but I really didn’t even think about playing Barbie until years into developing the project.”
10. The first glimpse
The internet had a field day when shots of Robbie and Gosling in nostalgic neon rollerblading gear first leaked. Gerwig said, “There was this sense of wanting to make something anarchic and wild and completely bananas,” and these colorful candids were the first indication of just how wild things would get.
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