Greta Gerwig thought Barbie could be a career-ender

It’s probably safe to say that people had a lot of preconceptions when the Barbie movie was first announced, and although we haven’t seen the film yet, it’s clear that director Greta Gerwig will be playing with those preconceptions.

While speaking with Dua Lipa on the At Your Service podcast, Greta Gerwig admitted that the thought of making Barbie was so terrifying that she believed it could even end her career if it didn’t work out. “It was something that was exciting because it was terrifying,” Gerwig said. “I think that was a big part of it, like: ‘Oh, no, Barbie.’ It felt like vertigo, starting to write it, like: ‘Where do you even begin, and what would be the story?’ And I think it was that feeling I had was knowing that it would be really interesting terror. Usually that’s where the best stuff is, where you’re like, ‘I am terrified of that.’ Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender’ — then you’re like, ‘I should probably do it.’“

Greta Gerwig added that the movie had the full support of Mattel, who gave them “such trust and such freedom and I think that that is incredibly rare. Whatever we wanted it to be, they did not try to micromanage it. They were completely onboard as partners and that was extraordinary.” Gerwig had access to the full archives of Barbie history. “They really gave us their trust,” she said. “And I think a big reason for that was actually Margot and Tom [Ackerley] and the way they also, you know, said, ‘We want to make this movie and we want to make her vision. We don’t have to make any Barbie movie. We want to make this one.‘“

The Barbie movie stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, as well as America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and more. In addition to directing the Barbie movie, Greta Gerwig also co-wrote the script with Noah Baumbach. The film will hit theaters on July 21, 2023.