The upcoming Barbie movie is filled with a star-studded cast. To bond for the movie, Margot Robbie held sleepovers for her and her fellow Barbies.
Barbie cast held sleepovers, had group chats
Speaking to People as part of a special edition magazine for the film, Simu Liu — who plays a Ken in the movie — said that Robbie held sleepovers for her fellow Barbie actresses.
“Margot was so great. She had a sleepover with the Barbies before photography started, and the Kens were allowed to either visit briefly or to phone in and say hi,” Liu said. “So we made sure to show our support but not be overbearing with our presence. And all the Barbies and Kens got in a group chat.”
But for one specific member of the cast, the group chat was inaccessible.
“I don’t have an iPhone myself. … I have a flip phone,” said Michael Cera, who plays a character named Alan in the film. “But I still think I wouldn’t belong on [the group chat] anyway, because [my character] Allan is sort of in his own little world. Greta’s gift for me when I arrived was a picture disc of NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, which felt like somehow a real guiding light in the backstory of this character.”
Issa Rae, who plays President Barbie in the film, detailed some more of the many on-set activities that the cast and crew got up to, as well as lamented missing out on the sleepovers.
“I got there late. I was so sad [to miss the sleepover],” says Rae, 38. “But there were so many bonding activities. Simu’s birthday happened there. And Margot and Tom [Ackerley, Robbie’s husband and co-producer] would have movie nights.”
Margot Robbie held “pink day” once a week
Ryan Gosling, who plays the Ken to Robbie’s Barbie, also revealed some of what went on behind the scenes. Gosling specifically recalled a “pink day” that Robbie held for the cast and crew, where everyone would have to wear pink or else face a fine. The actor also remarked how excited the male crew members were to commemorate their time on the film.
“Margot had this pink day once a week, where everyone had to wear something pink. And if you didn’t, you were fined,” said Gosling. “She would go around collecting the fines, and she would donate it to a charity. What was really special was just how excited the male crew members were. At the end of the film, they all got together and, with their own money, made pink crew shirts with rainbow fringe.
“It was this opportunity for them to show their respect and admiration for what Margot and [director] Greta [Gerwig] were creating. It was almost like that scene at the end of Dead Poets Society, where they all get on their desk and say, ‘O captain! My captain!’ “