The actress described her first day on set as “kinda surreal,” adding, “when you see it firsthand in real life, it’s all there, and it’s really exciting.”
Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’
Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’
Margot Robbie is giving the human world a perfectly pink preview of Barbie Land.
The Barbie actress showed off all of her favorite design elements — even the ones that are a bit out of the box — in a recent tour for Architectural Digest. That includes the multi-level playhouse’s kitchen, bubble bath, magical closet, and, her personal favorite, the slide that goes from the bedroom down into the pool.
“Not super practical,” Robbie conceded about the slide, “but nothing is for Barbie.”
Robbie noted that it was a “pretty incredible” experience stepping onto the set — which is so pink that it literally led to a paint shortage — for the very first time.
“It was kinda surreal,” she recalled, “because I’d spent so long looking at the miniatures and the models and the drawings and the design of what it was gonna look like, and then when you see it firsthand in real life, it’s all there, and it’s really exciting.”
Writer and director Greta Gerwig explained that the design for Barbie’s colorful cul-de-sac was the “product of so many discussions and so many references.”
“I can’t even tell you the meetings we’ve had about pink,” she said. “We like, sat with all these different kinds of pinks and we were like, ‘what is the pink? And how do the pinks interact?’ … When I was a little girl, I liked the pinkest, brightest things.”
It also draws inspiration from the doll’s history. Gerwig added, “Because Barbie was invented in 1959, it felt like we could ground everything in that look of 1950s soundstage musicals — Gene Kelly, Vincente Minnelli — like those kind of wonderfully fake, but emotionally artificial spaces.”
Ryan Gosling, who stars as Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, noted that, like Robbie, he felt a similar thrill when he first visited Barbie Land. He added, “Walking into those environments and feeling the artistry, and the love, and the playfulness, it just was so exciting.”
Barbie Dream House
Margot Robbie
| Credit: Architectural Digest
But, because Barbie’s home is a Dreamhouse and not a real house, Robbie pointed out that there are a few things that don’t exactly work as one would expect — like Barbie’s nonfunctional shower or her waterless pool.
“There is no water in Barbie Land. There’s no water or fire. There are no elements,” Robbie pointed out. Even still, she added that it’s particularly funny to watch “how many people avoid walking” in the pool, despite it not actually being filled.
“Everyone walks around the pool,” she teased. “Even though it’s fake, it’s really beautiful, which is kind of like everything in Barbie Land.”
Barbie cruises into theaters on July 21. Watch Robbie, Gerwig, and Gosling explore Barbie Land in the clip above.
Related content:
Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’
Barbie (2023 movie)
Margot Robbie plays the title role in this comedy inspired by the iconic Mattel doll.
