Margot Robbie Reveals If She Was Called Barbie on Set, Concerns About Movie Appealing to Men

During The Hollywood Reporter’s Actress Roundtable, Margot Robbie discussed her experiences filming the Barbie movie. The 33-year-old actress, who is also a producer, shared insights into the challenges she faced during production, including fears that the film wouldn't appeal to a male audience and convincingly portraying Barbie onscreen. Robbie also talked about the changes she consciously implemented to her character throughout the movie.

Robbie acknowledged her struggle to secure a substantial budget for the movie, as there was skepticism over whether men would want to see a Barbie film. She refuted this concern by stating that a good film would appeal to everyone regardless of the subject matter: “Everyone's like, ‘There's just no way. Men will never, ever go to see a Barbie movie.’ Men will go see a great movie. If it's great, everyone would go see it.”

She also expressed her aspiration for the movie to gross a billion dollars, comparing it to Steven Spielberg's recipe for success with dinosaur movies. Robbie said she was hopeful that her combination of Greta and Barbie would prove equally lucrative: “I was like, ‘God, I hope this works out. I just promised everyone a billion dollars.’”

Additionally, Robbie shared her journey of bringing Barbie to life and the evolution in her character portrayal. She wanted the audience to gradually see Barbie become more human-like as the movie progressed. This transformation was achieved in various ways, including changes in hair volume and costume design, which became more natural and relaxed over time.

Robbie also revealed that in the film’s script, the characters’ real names were used in conjunction with their doll names, such as ‘Barbie Margot’ and ‘Ken Ryan’. The only exception was actor Michael Cera, who played the unique role of Allan.

Aside from her Barbie role, Robbie recently mentioned two movies that never fail to make her cry and also discussed her plans for the money she earned from the Barbie film. Watch the Actress Roundtable for more details.