7 Amazing Facts About the Barbie Movie

The highly-anticipated Margot Robbie/Greta Gerwig Barbie movie is coming out on July 21, 2023, and fans clearly can’t wait. The film is predicted to help save the summer box office, and just the reaction to trailers alone show the creators have a smash on their hands. With all the excited talk around the movie, there is still plenty that might surprise and delight fans. “If you feel indifferent about Barbie or haven’t thought about Barbie in years, this movie is also for you,” Robbie says. Here are 7 facts about the Barbie movie that will make you even more excited for the film, including the scene Robbie found very uncomfortable to film, and the qualities Robbie and Gerwig say you need to have true ‘Barbie energy’.

1. Full Creative Control

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Robbie was adamant that Gerwig should be allowed to write the script without interference from Mattel or Warner Bros., which proved to be tricky—but she got her own way. “We’ve got two very nervous ginormous companies, Warner Bros. and Mattel, being like: What’s their plan? What are they going to do? What’s it gonna be about? What’s she going to say? They have a bazillion questions,” Robbie says. “At the time this was such a terrifying thing to take on. People were like, ‘You’re going to do what?’ But Gerwig said yes, on the condition that she could write the script with her partner, Noah Baumbach.”

2. A Movie For Lovers and Haters

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Robbie pitched her idea of what a Barbie movie should look like to the CEO of Mattel, Ynon Kreiz, at a meeting in 2018. “We’re LuckyChap,” she says. “This is our company. This is what we do. This is what we stand for. This is why we should be the ones to make a Barbie movie. And this is how we’d go about it… We of course would want to honor the 60-year legacy that this brand has. But we have to acknowledge that there are a lot of people who aren’t fans of Barbie. And in fact, aren’t just indifferent to Barbie. They actively hate Barbie. And have a real issue with Barbie. We need to find a way to acknowledge that.”

3. Barbie Energy

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During the casting process, Robbie and Gerwig were looking for what they described as ‘Barbie energy’ for the dolls. “Gal Gadot is Barbie energy,” Robbie says. “Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don’t hate her for being that beautiful, because she’s so genuinely sincere, and she’s so enthusiastically kind, that it’s almost dorky. It’s like right before being a dork.”

4. The Only Ken They Wanted

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Ryan Gosling was the only Ken that Robbie and Gerwig would consider for the role. “Well, it was only ever Ryan Gosling, and it was a long journey. Margot and I just wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Gerwig says. “From the moment that Margot came to me and I knew we were making this for Margot, I equally knew we were making this for Ryan. And I did not know Ryan at all. I’d never met him. I just was sure, and as soon as I thought of it, it made me so happy. Who else could do this? It’s some combination of Marlon Brando meets Gene Wilder meets John Barrymore meets John Travolta.”

5. Uncomfortable Rollerblading Scene

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Gerwig says the rollerblading scene in Venice Beach was meant to make Barbie uncomfortable—and it actually made Robbie uncomfortable in real life. “People would go by Ryan, high-five him, and say, ‘Awesome, Ryan, you look great!’ And they wouldn’t actually say anything to Margot,” Gerwig says. “They’d just look at her. It was just surreal. In that moment, she did feel self-conscious. And as the director, I wanted to protect her. But I also knew that the scene we were shooting had to be the scene where she felt exposed. And she was exposed, both as a celebrity and as a lady. To be fair, Ryan was like, ‘I wish I wasn’t wearing this vest.’ [Laughs.] But it was a different kind of discomfort.”

6. Robbie’s Barbie Dealbreaker

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Robbie says she would never have made or starred in the Barbie movie if there was no variety of different Barbies included. “If [Mattel] hadn’t made that change to have a multiplicity of Barbies, I don’t think I would have wanted to attempt to make a Barbie film,” she says. “I don’t think you should say, ‘This is the one version of what Barbie is, and that’s what women should aspire to be and look like and act like.’”

7. Death In Barbieland

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Gerwig says she deliberately gave the movie a darker arc. “I hope two things made that journey feel surprising but inevitable,” she says. “I started from this idea of Barbieland, this place with no death, no aging, no decay, no pain, no shame. We know the story. We’ve heard this story. This is an old story. It’s in a lot of religious literature. What happens to that person? They have to leave. And they have to confront all the things that were shielded from them in this place. So that felt like one thing.”

1. Acting Dreams

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Booth knew she wanted to act from an early age. “I always sort of loved performing for my family when I was really little,” she says. “When I was twelve, I auditioned for Huron Country Playhouse, which is a summer stock theater in Grand Bend, Ontario, and I was cast as an orphan in the musical Annie. It was that summer when I was walking into the first rehearsal and saw the adults there, and I don’t know why I’d never put two and two together before while watching TV, but it was like a light bulb went off for me, and I was like, 'Wait a second. You can actually do this for a living?' And that was it. And I was like, 'That’s what I wanna do.'”

2. Her Perfect Saturday

Booth loves to just relax on the weekends. “My perfect Saturday would mean slightly sleeping in—to like, 10 a.m. I’d get up and have an almond milk latte that I make here with my little Nespresso machine that I love,” she says. “Then my husband and I would get the dogs all leashed up and go for a walk. We’d come back and probably go out for brunch to Bonjour Brioche—it’s on Queen Street East. My husband and I both love pancakes so we’d probably end up having them with fresh squeezed orange juice or something like that. Maybe a side of bacon, too—gotta have some protein!”

3. Horror Movie Fan

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Booth is a big movie buff, enjoying both rom coms and scary flicks. “I have my favorites that I watch: The Princess Bride and Bridget Jones’s Diary,” she says. “Those are two of my go to feel-good movies. My best friend and I have a bit of a weird obsession with horror films, so generally when I’m at home she’ll come over and all three of us will sit around and watch really bad horror movies, like the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street. It’s so bad. It’s awful. But then there are some really great ones. We just watched the original—I think it’s Swedish—of Let the Right One In. I like to be scared—to sit for two or three hours on the sofa with my stomach in knots.”

4. Playing Ethel Kennedy

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Booth once played Ethel Kennedy on The Kennedys and took it seriously. “Well, you know, the first time around, it kind of haunted me a little bit–I’m not gonna lie,” she says. “And even almost more so the second time. You’re portraying someone who lived this life, who is a part of history, who is still alive, and you obviously want to do them justice and portray them as close to who they are or who they were at that time as possible. I pored over biographies and books about the Kennedys, videos and all sorts of research material in order to create this character who then became Ethel Kennedy.”

5. Bubble Baths

Booth sometimes enjoys a bath as part of a relaxing Saturday. “Sometimes I’ll take a bath before bed—I do enjoy a good bubble bath,” she says. “I like lavender essential oil in it to help me sleep. But usually it’s just us crawling into bed and passing out. I’m sort of religious about washing my face before I go to sleep. But I will admit that on more than one occasion on a Saturday, I will skip that. That’s why I have towelettes on my nightstand!”

There are lots of facts we all know about Carrie Underwood. She has a beautiful voice, she won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005 and went on to be one of the most successful singers from the reality competition show, and is dedicated to healthy living. However, there are lots of things you might now know about the country singer – even if you identify as a “Care Bear.” Here are 7 amazing facts about Carrie Underwood – how many of them are news to you?

1. She Is a Sorority Girl

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When Carrie rose to international fame on American Idol she was a student at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, studying to become a broadcast journalist. While attending school, you could find young Carrie at the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority house where she was a member. Another fun fact? She went back to college after being crowned the winner and received a degree majoring in Mass Communications and graduated magna cum laude!

2. She Dated a Lot of (Hot) Frogs Before Finding Her Prince

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From 2007 to 2008 Carrie famously dated Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford, who broke up with her via text. "It just didn't work," she told Extra months after the split. She also reportedly dated Bachelor star Travis Stork and NFL stud Tony Romo. However, when she happened upon her prince, she got her fairy tale ending. “I met my husband [NHL player Mike Fisher] in a meet and greet,” she told US. “Our first kiss was on New Year’s Eve when the countdown ended.”

3. She Is Obsessed with Horror Movies

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Underwood is so obsessed with horror movies, many of her music videos are inspired by them, “I really don’t know why I’ve always loved horror movies, but I know why I’ve always loved Stephen King,” she reportedly said. The Two Black Cadillacs video was inspired by King’s Christine. She also confessed to KidzWorld that the Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street movies are other favorite freaky movies of hers.

4. She Is Obsessed with Making Her Bed

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Carrie is a total neat freak. “I can’t function during the day if I know my bed is not made. It will be all I think about throughout the day until it’s actually made, ” Carrie told Country Weekly. “My refrigerator is extremely organized. Everything is showing the labels and is arranged in perfect rows.”

5. She Didn't Even Want to Audition for Idol at First

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A little-known fact about Carrie Underwood is that before she gained fame as a country music superstar, she auditioned for the reality TV show "American Idol" on a whim. She was actually hesitant about participating and almost didn't go to the audition because she thought her chances of success were slim. However, her friends and family encouraged her to give it a try, and as we know, she went on to win the fourth season of "American Idol" in 2005, launching her highly successful music career. This unexpected turn of events showcases how taking a chance and pursuing your passions can lead to extraordinary opportunities.

6. She Is a “Doomsday Preparer”

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You might find a lot of bulk survival products in Carrie’s Nashville mansion. “I’m a bit of a doomsday preparer. Make fun of me, but we’ll see who survives the zombie apocalypse,” she confessed to Us.

7. She Is Afraid of Flying

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Carrie’s first time on an airplane was to travel to Hollywood for American Idol – and she doesn’t love flying to this day. “It was terrifying. It still freaks me out, to be honest,” she described her first flight while on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “I’m 36 years old and I’ve been to lots of airports … but back then I was by myself and there were lots of connecting flights to get there.”