Barbie is currently decimating its competition at the box office, having recently passed the $1 billion mark worldwide. The movie went through several incarnations (one of which was going to star Amy Schumer) before Margot Robbie boarded the project, however, and could have been a very different animal doll altogether.
As previously reported, Robbie - who also executive produced the film - initially had a very different idea for who should play Barbie, and felt Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot had all the right qualities to lead the project.
“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy," Robbie said in an interview prior to the movie's release. "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.”
Gadot responded to Robbie's comments during a recent interview with Flaunt Magazine, and was flattered by her fellow actor's words.
“I adore Margot. Margot is one of those women who you just want to be friends with. She is so funny, warm, fun and smart and obviously so talented. She brings so much to the table. I would love to do anything with Margot and was very touched [by her comments]. She warmed my heart with everything that she said about me. I’m super excited for them, and I’m so excited for Barbie.”
Would Gadot have been up for boarding the project had a scheduling issue not prevented her from taking a meeting? We may never know, but having see the movie, it's difficult to imagine anyone else but Robbie playing Barbie.
What do you think? Can you see Gadot in the role?
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) comes Barbie, which also stars America Ferrera (End of Watch, the How to Train Your Dragon films), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Yesterday), Issa Rae (The Photograph, Insecure), Rhea Perlman (I’ll See You in My Dreams, Matilda), and Will Ferrell (the Anchorman films, Talladega Nights), and more.
Gerwig directs from a screenplay she penned alongside Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale), based on the iconic fashion dolls by Mattel.
The film’s producers are Oscar nominee David Heyman (Marriage Story, Gravity), Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.