What the Mattel CEO Really Thinks of the Satirical Barbie Movie

For Mattel executives, the Barbie movie was more than kenough.

In fact, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz had nothing but praise for the film, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular doll leaving Barbieland on a quest into the real world.

"It took 64 years to bring it to today," Kreiz told CNBC's Squawk on the Street on July 21. "It's an important moment for Barbie. It's a milestone moment for Mattel, and it's a historical moment for cinema in bringing together for the first time to big screen one of the most iconic brands in modern culture."

And their hopes in creating Barbie went above and beyond just shooting a movie.

"Well, from the beginning, we were set out to create a cultural event," Kreiz explained. "This is more than making a movie. Barbie is a pop culture icon that is both timeless and timely. And we always believe that this will be something very special, not conventional that will create a real societal event."

However, bringing the iconic doll to life also meant facing the criticisms the doll has faced in the past—something director Greta Gerwig and Robbie were unafraid to address. 

"You need to be able to point out all the things that people have found problematic about Barbie," the Babylon star, who also served as a producer on Barbie, told the New York Times in an interview published July 13. "Greta would say, run toward that, that's going to be more interesting."

It wasn't always smooth sailing making the film as Robbie admitted Mattel had a "long laundry list of concerns," which ranged from what lines to include or why some language was necessary. After all, the company's COO even flew to London over concerns about a scene but later relented. Still, there was a collaborative effort to make a movie everyone was proud of.

"By the way, we had total freedom," Robbie continued. "They weren't allowed to dictate the movie, but we didn't want to make a movie that they weren't going to be supportive of as well."

Read on to learn more secrets from the Barbie movie.

Margot Robbie, who stars as Barbie and also produced the film, admitted in an interview that she always wanted Ryan Gosling to be her Ken. She said he was written into the script—as the character "Ken Ryan Gosling"—and joked, "We pretty much wouldn't take no for an answer."

"We just kept bothering you," writer/director Greta Gerwig admitted to Ryan in an SXM interview. "Margot was like, 'Is it weird if I go to his house?' I was like, 'Don't go to his house. We're just gonna stay put.' Send a follow-up text." As Margot teased, "I would see a sea of blue on my phone."

Ryan revealed that Margot gave him daily gifts inspired by his character Beach Ken. 

"She left a pink present with a pink bow, from Barbie to Ken, every day while we were filming," Ryan told Vogue. "They were all beach-related. Like puka shells, or a sign that says 'Pray for surf.'" He said that he's "never quite figured out" what Ken's job as "Beach" means, "But I felt like she was trying to help Ken understand, through these gifts that she was giving."

Amy Schumer explained the real reason she dropped out of the Barbie movie.

"I think we said it was scheduling conflict, that's what we said," she said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in June 2023. "But yeah, it really was just, like, creative differences. But you know what? There's like a new team behind it, and it looks like it's very feminist and cool. So, I will be seeing that movie."

"It was a happy accident," John Cena told Today of his casting as a Mermaid Ken. He said he "kind of" pitched himself to join the film "in an accidental run-in with Margot Robbie." John told her, "I would do, pretty much, whatever you guys need 'cause I really enjoy the movie and they asked me if I wanted to be a merman."

Casting director Allison Jones revealed Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang, Schitt's Creek actor Dan Levy and Dear Evan Hansen actor Ben Platt almost played Kens in the movie but weren't able to make it work. She added, "They were, I'm not kidding, really bummed they couldn't do it."

According to the casting director, before Michael Cera came on board as Ken's buddy Allan, it almost went to a certain Frozen actor.

"Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can't believe I'm typing this," Allison Jones told Vanity Fair, "but I can't do Allan."

 

The Barbie actresses revealed they had a cast sleepover at the London hotel Claridge's to get close. "We all shared beds and wore our pajamas, and ordered room service," Margot shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, "and played games, and found out that America [Ferrera] is exceptionally competitive."

America had her own tea to spill about the evening. "Nobody told me that it was a sexy Barbie sleepover," she quipped. "So everybody was in like really pretty silky nightgowns, and I was in like the most grandma floral twin set you can imagine."

As for the Kens? "Greta was very deliberate in what she wanted the Kens to do to bond," Simu Liu exclusively told E! News, "which was to gym together."

The French version of Barbie's poster went viral after social media users pointed out the double entendre of the translation. "She can do everything. He's just Ken," the English tagline goes, which was translated to, "Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c'est juste Ken."

However, fans went wild after pointing out that "ken" has a slang meaning in French as "f--k" and would translate to, "He can only f--k." Bonjour, Ken!

Though Nicola Coughlan only appeared for a few moments in the film, it was very important to her to experience life in plastic.

"I auditioned for Barbie back in January 22 when I was on holiday with friends," she wrote on Instagram. "I'd packed one random hot pink dress I hadn't worn at all and when I had to make my audition tape I thought- this is fate, I have a dress in Barbie Pink!"

Admitting she's "obsessed" with Greta Gerwig, the Bridgerton star said that "the prospect of working with her was something I couldn't even have imagined." 

"When I found out she wanted to have me be part of @barbiethemovie, and then that I probably wouldn't be able to make it work because of my schedule I was firstly elated and quickly heartbroken," Nicola continued. "So when I was asked if I wanted to pop into Barbieland even briefly my answer was an immediate, and very emphatic yes." 

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