Greta Gerwig admitted that she was “terrified” to direct and co-write the upcoming Warner Bros. “Barbie” film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
The 39-year-old filmmaker told Dua Lipa that she was excited but also worried about taking on the first ever live-action movie based on the iconic Mattel Doll.
“It was terrifying,” the three-time Academy Award nominee said during a Friday appearance on the 27-year-old British singer’s podcast “At Your Service.”
Greta Gerwig admitted that she was “terrified” to take on the live-action “Barbie” movie.
(John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI)
Gerwig continued, “I think there’s something about starting from that place where it’s like, ‘Well, anything is possible.'”
RYAN GOSLING SEEN AS KEN IN FIRST LOOK AT ‘BARBIE’ LIVE-ACTION MOVIE
She added, “It felt like vertigo starting to write it. Like, where do you even begin? What would be the story?”
“I think it was that feeling I had knowing that it would be really interesting terror. That’s usually where the best stuff is.”
“When you’re like, ‘I am terrified of that,'” the “White Noise” star said. “Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender,’ then you’re like, ‘OK, I probably should do it.'”
Gerwig feared that directing and co-writing the movie “could be a career-ender.”
(Warner Bros.)
Gerwig enlisted her partner and frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach to co-write the screenplay in 2019. In 2021, she signed on to direct the romantic comedy.
Robbie is playing the role of the titular doll and Gosling is portraying Ken.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
The “Suicide Squad” star is also producing the movie for her company LuckyChap Entertainment alongside Mattel Films and HeyDay Films.
The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.
(Warner Bros.)
The film’s star-studded cast also includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef and Alexandra Shipp.
Few details have been revealed about “Barbie”‘s plot but a logline for the movie reads, “A doll living in ‘Barbieland’ is expelled for not being perfect enough and sets off on an adventure in the real world.”
Production on “Barbie” began last March and the film is set to be released on July 21, 2023.
