Gal Gadot's Heartfelt Response to Margot Robbie's Request to Portray Barbie Will Warm Your Soul

Gal Gadot and Margot Robbie. Shutterstock (2)

Margot Robbie initially considered Gal Gadot for the titular role of Barbie. In an interview with Flaunt magazine, Gadot expressed admiration for Robbie and her desire to work with her. She expressed excitement for the Barbie movie and was touched by Robbie's kind words about her.

Gal Gadot's personality served as a model for the casting directors and Robbie, 33, when they were looking for the ideal actors to portray each doll in BarbieLand. In May, Robbie shared with Vogue that Gadot embodies the essence of Barbie, as she is incredibly stunning yet genuinely sincere and enthusiastically kind, to the point of being endearingly dorky.

Robbie, who is also the film's executive producer, did not entertain the idea of casting herself in the lead role until director Greta Gerwig became involved in the project. Gerwig, who co-wrote the script with Noah Baumbach, convinced Robbie to take on the titular role.

"When she agreed to come on board," Robbie shared with Teen Vogue in July, "I told her that I don't have to be in the movie. I'm truly passionate about producing it, and I am content with solely being a producer."

Gal Gadot and Margot Robbie. Rob Latour/Shutterstock

Greta already envisioned Robbie wearing the iconic pink heels. "She insisted on writing this specifically for me, and she crafted an incredible role. I'm truly grateful," Robbie reminisced.

Aside from Robbie, Gerwig also had another character in mind beforehand - Ryan Gosling to play Ken.

"She also included him in the script. The script always mentioned 'Barbie, Margot' and 'Ken, Ryan Gosling,'" Robbie disclosed, noting that both women persistently insisted Gosling, 42, to join. "We kept telling Ryan, 'You have to do it. It's written on the page,'" she jokingly added.

Nevertheless, before appearing on set, Robbie had one major request.

During an interview with TIME magazine in June, Robbie expressed her hesitation in attempting to create a Barbie film if Mattel hadn't made the decision to diversify the Barbie dolls. She believes it is not fair to only have one version of Barbie that women should aspire to be like in terms of appearance and behavior.

In the film, Robbie takes on the role of the iconic blonde, pink-wearing Barbie that many fans are familiar with. However, the cast also features a range of other stars portraying different versions of Barbie. For instance, Issa Rae is cast as President Barbie, Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie, and Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie.

Rae, 38, expressed her concern about the possibility of the film feeling too focused on white feminism. However, she believes that the film is self-aware. According to Rae, Barbie Land symbolizes perfection, which raises the question of whether anyone can relate to a concept of perfection that only includes white Barbies.