There are so many stories from the Barbie set that make me want to be a part of such a magical pink-painted experience. From inside jokes from the set, to a hilarious Ryan Gosling performance that must’ve been tough to keep a straight face through. Margot Robbie and the “Ken” actor recently shared a BTS story that involved the costume director having to yell ridiculous lines at Gosling on set, and I don’t know how the cast was able to control their laughter.
In a press junket interview with the Associated Press, the Barbie stars opened up about some of their favorite off-camera moments from shooting the mega summer blockbuster. Apparently some of the lines in the more Barbie-specific lines from the film were really hard to say, especially when it came to the outfit titles that the actors had to rattle off. Robbie revealed:
There were such tricky Barbie names to say like ‘Pajama jams in Amsterdam!'
They were so tricky for Gosling that the production had to bring in some reinforcements. The costume designer, who was an expert on all things Barbiecore at this point, needed to be off camera to yell off outfit titles at the Oscar nominee for him to repeat. Gosling explained:
It was a special moment for me too because I couldn’t remember all the names. [The costume director] had to sit behind Barbie’s cabinet and say to me ‘Pretty paisley palazzo pants.
This must have been especially funny, because the scene in question features Gosling as Ken throwing Barbie’s clothes off of the balcony of the Dream House, while passionately and emphatically yelling out special edition outfit titles into the wind. Even the thought of a costume director yelling off ridiculous names like “Celebrate Disco Bell Bottoms," and Gosling having to yell them back at Robbie with all the energy he could muster, is enough to make me giggle. The performance is funny enough, but to have the costume person there to make sure he’s being accurate with the ridiculousness is even funnier.
Not only does this story give insight into how funny it probably was to make the Barbie movie, it also shows how important the sublime details were to the cast and crew of the movie. The scene in question is played for laughs, as most of Gosling’s Oscar-worthy performance is, but they still wanted to make sure they were being authentic to the world of Barbie. When Ken throws the costumes off the balcony, the frame stops to tell the audience specifics about the costume, including the year it was released and for what doll. The film certainly indulges in its own silliness, but it never strays away from being truthful and accurate to its origin.
Barbie may be transitioning out of theaters to a home release, but I’ll never get tired of hearing behind-the-scenes stories from the set. The cast fully commits to the entire premise, and the fun, enthusiastic energy is apparent on screen. Not only did they keep audiences laughing throughout the runtime, but it seems like they all kept each other laughing off-screen as well.
Barbie is currently at the tail end of its record-breaking box office run, and is still playing in theaters nationwide, in addition to being available to purchase digitally on Amazon. For more information on other highly anticipated films heading to cinemas this year, make sure to consult our 2023 movie release schedule.
