'Barbie' Cast Interviews With Issa Rae, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling And More   Blavity - video Dailymotion

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Watch 'Barbie' Cast Interviews With Issa Rae, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling And More   Blavity - Blavity on Dailymotion

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00:00 Your character in this movie is a character who has a lot of history with Barbie and it

00:05 kind of impacts the person that she is.

00:07 So I wanted to know for you, as America, what's your connection with Barbie and how did that

00:12 kind of like impact maybe the way that you approach this role?

00:15 Yeah, well to be honest, like I didn't really play with Barbies growing up.

00:21 You know, it didn't necessarily feel like representative of me, but it was also just

00:26 kind of, we couldn't afford Barbies.

00:28 Like it just felt like out of my reach.

00:31 And in a way, like it's so amazing to get to be a part of a story that expands that

00:38 world and that narrative to include more of us, right?

00:42 And I would have never thought that I would be a part of a Barbie movie, but what Greta

00:48 and Noah did with the story and how they opened it up to be about, less about what the life

00:56 of a doll and more about what she says about who we are as humans, it was really like compelling

01:02 and interesting to me.

01:04 Yes.

01:05 And speaking about, you know, this crisis that Barbie, you know, happens upon in the

01:09 film, I think that both Barbie and Ken are kind of the point where they're thinking like,

01:14 kind of pushing back against like what they've programmed themselves.

01:17 I guess Mattel has programmed them to think, and I think it kind of reminds me of how kind

01:21 of like society programs us to think certain things about ourselves, what we can do, what

01:26 we can't do.

01:27 Did you have a revelation like that in life before about, you know, thinking about, you

01:30 know, maybe I'm not who I thought I was supposed to be?

01:34 Yeah.

01:35 Yeah.

01:36 I've a lot.

01:37 And I feel like every day, like every day more and more I'm realizing like, oh, what

01:43 if I chose just not to believe that?

01:45 Like, what if I just chose to believe this, you know?

01:51 And I think the miracle of realizing that so much of what we live with is just like

01:56 what we choose to believe.

02:00 And that's, you know, that in a way it's like everything's a story.

02:05 Everything we believe is a story that someone told us and that we chose to like make real

02:10 for us.

02:11 And I love that you say that because that is the connection with Gloria and Barbie of

02:14 like, you know, they have this deep connection and one of them beginning to question like

02:22 her boundaries is what, you know, kind of they both help each other evolve to the next

02:31 thing.

02:32 They're intertwined together.

02:33 They're intertwined.

02:34 Yeah.

02:35 Well, thank you so, so much for chatting with me.

02:36 I can't wait for more people to see the film.

02:38 You know, coming off of films like Lady Bird and Little Women, I was listening to the podcast

02:44 you did with Dua Lipa.

02:45 I've been talking about how like, you know, the most terrifying part about this movie

02:50 would be like where to start like initially.

02:53 So you know, thinking about how we didn't really know too much about what the film was

02:56 for a long time.

02:57 Then we come out with the trailer and like, oh, Barbie's going through an existential

03:00 crisis.

03:01 That's what the genesis of this film is.

03:03 So what do you think the starting point was when you figured out like what this film would

03:07 be about and like what it would tackle and like kind of even having some social commentary

03:11 in there as well?

03:12 Yeah.

03:13 I wanted the movie to be, you know, I wanted it to be beautiful.

03:18 I wanted it to be dazzling and I wanted it to be kind of this homage to soundstage musicals

03:23 of the 1950s.

03:25 But then I felt like the way to sort of approach everything was to run head on into the thorniness

03:34 and to not pretend it doesn't exist, that that would be where the story was.

03:40 And then I think beyond that, as you know, as we were working on it, just I would say

03:47 Ken as an idea, as like the fact that Ken never really, nobody who ever played with

03:53 Barbies or grew up with him really ever thought about Ken.

03:57 And when I first talked to Ryan about playing the part, he said his daughter had Barbie

04:02 and he thought that they had a Ken, but he couldn't find it.

04:04 And then he found it in the backyard under a rotting lemon.

04:08 And he was like, "Oh, I need to tell this man's story.

04:11 He's totally forgotten."

04:12 And I think that that also, it was like, it was like, I felt that the, everything about

04:18 the story kept revealing itself to us.

04:21 And it was like both looking at all of this stuff as an adult and also remembering being

04:26 a kid and kind of trying to occupy both, both mental states at the same time.

04:32 Yes.

04:33 Yes.

04:34 And with that being said, what do you think this film's like wide appeal could be?

04:37 So initially you think people may sell a Barbie film like this may be for like my kids, but

04:42 you know, but then you watch the film and it's like, okay, this message is for like,

04:45 it's, you know, broad, it's universal.

04:48 So what do you think that the universal message of this film would be?

04:51 The thing that I really wanted to, to, to sort of nail down for people when they sit

04:57 in a movie theater was just the, this is a big one, but it is honestly what I wanted

05:03 it to be is just like that you're worthy and that you're enough.

05:08 And I think that that's something men, women, everyone, whether they're young or old, people

05:16 hold themselves to just impossible standards and really beat themselves up all the time.

05:21 I see it all the time.

05:23 And I do it too.

05:25 And I wanted this to be fun and beautiful and a romp and hilarious.

05:30 And then I also wanted it to sort of reach through the screen and say, maybe you're enough,

05:36 you're enough.

05:38 But also, you know, like, I think that that was, that was really at the core of it to

05:44 me because I think it's what I need to hear.

05:47 And I think I would imagine that a lot of people need to hear it.

05:50 Yeah.

05:51 One of my favorite parts was when like, you know, it was like, you know, if Barbie's having

05:54 a rough patch, then like, what, what have I to do with like, I'm going through something.

05:57 So like, that's where I think that's a message that like could be applied to anything.

06:01 Yeah, exactly.

06:02 So yeah, it's really supposed to be eight to 80.

06:05 Everyone's invited or really 108.

06:08 But it's, it's, it's a movie.

06:11 I want it to be for everyone.

06:13 And, and, and Ken's included.

06:17 Thank you so, so much for chatting with me.

06:20 I can't wait for more people to see the film.

06:21 Isa, I'll start with you.

06:23 When we found out that you were going to play President Barbie, I was like, that feels correct.

06:27 You know, this is right, playing President Barbie.

06:29 If President Barbie was our real life president, who would be three real life figures who you

06:34 think would be her administration?

06:38 If if President Barbie were real, it would probably be, um, Beyonce would be in the music

06:44 ministry cabinet.

06:45 Because that's the thing.

06:47 I would also invite, this is so hard.

06:51 Oh, it just, it got real for me.

06:54 I would invite, um, I would invite Greta Gerwig just because for Treasury, because I want

07:02 her to handle all of the finances.

07:08 Warner Brothers should thank her.

07:09 And then I would like to also invite, um, Rihanna for foreign relations.

07:16 I just feel like she has a superior quality and an accent that people can relate to.

07:24 I hate every answer I gave.

07:25 She has a big reach.

07:26 She has a big reach.

07:27 No, that's a stag line on the other nations should be intimidated by.

07:31 Thank you.

07:32 That's all I want.

07:33 I want to stoke fear in my heart.

07:37 I love it.

07:39 And Michael and Kate for you.

07:40 So Mike, you play Alan and you play a Barbie, but not necessarily the Barbies like the other

07:45 Barbies that we meet in the movie.

07:48 So what was it like playing these characters that are kind of different from like, you

07:50 know, the different versions of Barbies and all the kids, but these two characters are

07:54 very different and kind of bring a different energy than we've seen in the movie when we

07:58 get to the point where we meet them.

08:00 So what was that like?

08:01 How do we do this?

08:02 What are we going to do?

08:07 I like to feel like I'm watching from the periphery.

08:12 I feel sort of like that.

08:14 And I like to celebrate that.

08:15 And I like to try to use that platform to speak to others who feel like that.

08:21 And so I'm so proud to have portrayed weird Barbie.

08:25 And what about you, honey?

08:26 I like that, too.

08:27 You know, I always have lived on like the edge of town when I lived here in LA.

08:32 I lived in Marina del Rey.

08:34 You did?

08:35 And I liked at the end of the night, like slinking off the 90, you know, and being on

08:40 the side of me.

08:41 I can come in when I want.

08:42 But I'm over here.

08:46 Did that make sense?

08:47 You lived in the Marina del Rey?

08:48 Why am I talking about where I lived?

08:49 Yeah, I lived in Marina del Rey.

08:50 Wow.

08:51 Did you go to Cheesecake?

08:52 Near Via Marina, of course.

08:53 Cheesecake.

08:54 You go to Jerry's Valley, go to Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch.

08:55 Look at you.

08:56 It's gone.

08:57 It's gone.

08:58 Yeah, it's gone.

08:59 And Jerry's is gone, too.

09:00 Jerry's is gone.

09:01 It's all gone.

09:02 Angels.

09:03 Yeah.

09:04 Well, thank you three so, so much for chatting with me.

09:05 We said a lot.

09:06 Of course.

09:07 And I cannot wait for more people to see this film.

09:08 So, I wanted to know for both of you, thinking about kind of what Barbie and Ken are both

09:15 going through in this movie.

09:16 They kind of have a pushing back against like what they've been programmed as, I guess,

09:21 like via Mattel in this movie.

09:23 You know, the things that people expect of them, what they expect of themselves.

09:26 And I was wondering, in real life, do you think there have been any instances where

09:30 you've kind of like pushed back against like kind of how what society has like programmed

09:34 us?

09:35 The box society has put you in, where you've put yourself in?

09:37 Yes.

09:38 This movie is very much about stepping outside of that box.

09:42 Metaphorically.

09:43 Figuratively.

09:44 An instance where I've had that experience?

09:48 I'm trying to think of like, there's not one shining example, but yeah, I think I've always

09:55 been doing that.

09:56 I remember I'm from the Gold Coast in Australia, and I feel like being like a surfy kid was

10:04 like such a thing that you had to be, so I dyed my hair black like all through high school

10:09 and listened to Death Metal.

10:10 And I was like, was I just trying to prove, even though I really like surfing, am I trying

10:13 to prove that I'm not the thing that, I don't know.

10:15 I guess I've always been finding ways to like defy the expectation, either in big or small

10:22 ways.

10:23 And sometimes it's totally silly.

10:24 Like my hair looked awful.

10:26 I should have just been like, it's okay to have blonde hair.

10:28 It's okay.

10:29 But no, I think, I don't know, I think I've always had that feeling of like, hmm, they

10:36 think I'm that, now I've got to show them I'm not that.

10:38 And sometimes I catch myself doing it with like acting roles.

10:41 I'm like, no, I've already played that.

10:42 I need to show that I can play that.

10:44 And I'm like, I'm worried about it.

10:46 It's all about that box, like getting out of that box.

10:48 Yeah.

10:49 What about you?

10:50 What about you?

10:51 You, sir.

10:52 You know, I think that, you know, as journalists, you know, we think that like a lot of times

10:58 our opinions need to be uniform.

10:59 And, you know, thinking about how everybody can take something away differently.

11:04 Even this film, like, you know, the existential crisis may resonate with me more than someone

11:08 else.

11:09 So I think that's how I would push out some of the box.

11:13 I'd find it really hard.

11:14 I mean, I don't know, I'm not a journalist, but it'd be so hard because I feel there's

11:19 so many things that I feel both sides of the argument for.

11:22 And it's like, you have to pick the side.

11:24 It's hard.

11:25 But both things can be true at once.

11:28 Yeah, it's like you always don't want to be polarized.

11:30 You don't want to like, either you really, really like a film or you really, really hate

11:34 it.

11:35 It's never like a lot of times in between.

11:36 So that's like pushing back against that.

11:38 Yeah, playing in that gray area.

11:40 It's just, yeah, anyways, interesting.

11:42 And I think that's what Greta does so well.

11:44 You know, it's like she really, there's no line between drama and comedy.

11:48 You know, she sort of breaks that down.

11:50 And the stuff that she makes kind of exists in that place.

11:53 That's why it resonates so much, certainly with me, because it feels more truthful.

11:59 Yeah, absolutely.

12:00 Well, thank you both so, so much for chatting with me.

12:02 I cannot wait for more people to see this film.

'Barbie' Cast Interviews With Issa Rae, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling And More Blavity

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