Greta Gerwig: “It’s exciting to tell Barb’s real-world life”

When Greta Gerwig (Sacramento, California, 39 years old) was in pre-production of his film Barbiecompany managers Mattel, owners of the Barbie brandThey paid him an unpleasant visit. She gave them hints about her inspiration for creating the script: magical realism, religious myth, the influence of certain painters and references to films like red slippers and to life or death. “I think at that moment everyone realized that no one had remembered before and they were surprised by my level of panic, the saturation of the color pink, my commitment to the project. They left delighted”, proudly admits the director during the presentation of the film.

Announcement of the Barbie feature film with Margot Robbie in the skin of the iconic doll was enough to blow up the internet. But when it was confirmed that her boyfriend was an athlete, Ken would be played by Ryan Gosling and that Greta Gerwig, the director little woman would take over the script and production, interest in the project reached unknown levels from the audience that has been leaving cinema halls for years. In fact, analysts in the United States see it as possible for the film to reach one hundred million dollars at the box office in its first weekend.

Despite everything, Gerwig admits that at first he thought the film could be the end of his career. “I had a moment of dizziness when I started writing the script. I really didn’t know where to start.” The positive response of fans to the proposal and the enthusiasm of lovers in fluoro pink Lycra dresses calmed the director’s nerves. “I like to feel those scary moments because they make me try to get over myself. The inner terror is always interesting. I’m thrilled with the audience reception and the expectations that the film has created,” she confirms. Says Gerwig, who has long wanted to work with Robbie. “I’ve never been a part of something so big, but it’s fun because the foundations are the same. The fact that Barbie is internationally famous brand in no way diminishes the project from my personal investment.With this title I feel the same intimacy as is Lady Bird or little woman“, explains the director.

Gerwig’s Planet Barbie resonates with the times we live in, thanks to a cheeky production design that suggests Gerwig is not only well-versed in feminism, but also an aesthetic sensibility that appreciates artistry, exaggeration, and parody. “I think there’s something exciting about starting to tell Barbie’s life from a place where anything is possible: the real world,” says the director.

A successful career from a different vision of femininity

The three films that Greta Gerwig has made, since she added writing and directing to her acting line, have been astonishingly successful. Each of them deals with a different vision of femininity, from rebellious young women from Lady Birdeven sisters in need little womanto end up with a commercial icon in search of his identity as it is Barbie. Three versions of a universal theme: how to survive as a woman in a man’s world. I admit that I have always been attracted to the stories of women who want to be better, he says succinctly. From actress to filmmaker, Gerwig has one of the most exciting careers in 21st century Hollywood.

women’s stories

As an actress and director, the California-born Gerwig is drawn to stories about women at the center of the storms that surround them. Her rise in Hollywood surprises even Gerwig herself, who originally wanted to be a playwright, but failed to get into any of the graduate playwriting programs she applied to. “If theater was my first love, then cinema was my love in adulthood,” he launches. Considered one of Hollywood’s most promising directors, she admits that Mattel executives were “incredible partners” on the project, offering her a level of “trust and freedom” that she considers “incredibly rare.”