Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star in the recently released film Barbie. At the film’s climax, however, America Ferrera steals the show with an impassioned monologue — something the actress says was a struggle to get right.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star in the recently released film Barbie. At the film’s climax, however, America Ferrera steals the show with an impassioned monologue — something the actress says was a struggle to get right.
Ferrera’s diverse interpretations range from performance to emotion
In the film, Gloria von Ferrera gives an impassioned speech about the many double standards women face every day. The speech helps break the Barbies out of their brainwashing caused by Ken. Speak with Vanity FairFerrera said they filmed the scene for two days. The actress says she had to go through the whole series “30 to 50 times.”
“We shot it over two days,” Ferrera said. “It’s part of a much larger scene with a lot of characters in it. I had to do it many, many times to get other people’s coverage and to get through the whole scene over a two day period.”
However, it wasn’t director Greta Gerwig who wanted to do everything right. Instead, Ferrara tried to find the setting that suited her best.
“There were moments in the making of the film where Greta had really written something in a very specific way, that she was hearing in her head in a very specific way, with a specific rhythm, a specific speed, or a specific intonation,” Ferrera said. “I thought maybe that would be the case, but the opposite was the case. She wanted me to make it my own and like it the way we made it.”
Ferrera said that by the end of the process, even some of her own co-stars had her lines memorized. Overall, she estimated the scene lasted between 30 and 50 takes.
What is Barbie about?
Barbie is directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. Joining Robbie are Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Hari Nef, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Dua Lipa and more.
The film is being produced by Robbie and Tom Ackerly for Mattel Films’ LuckyChap and Robbie Brenner, along with Josey McNamara and Ynon Kreiz. This is Robbie’s latest collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures, having portrayed fan-favorite anti-heroine Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad, 2020’s Birds of Prey and 2021’s The Suicide Squad.