Greta Gerwig was committed to her vision of the “I’m Only Ken” scene in Barbie.
The director and co-writer, 40, spoke about Ryan Gosling’s scene at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, recalling, per Diversity, “The script just said, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance.’ ”
But in a “big meeting” with the powers that be, Gerwig said she was asked “‘Do you need this?’ ” about a sequence showing Gosling, 42, and his co-star Kens playing on the beach before viewers are transported to another realm, where the Kens are dancing.
“I thought, ‘Everything in me needs this,'” Gerwig continued. “They were like, ‘What do you even think? What is a dream ballet?’ And I said: ‘Dream ballet? Where do I start!’ ”
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Ryan Gosling (center) in Barbie (2023).
Movie Clips/YouTube
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Gerwig noted similarities that include “a dream ballet within a dream ballet” compared to the 1952 ballet. Singing in the rainexplaining, “I thought, ‘If only people could follow that Singing in the rain, I think we will be fine. I think people will know what this is.’ ”
But the scene was not carefree for the director. “Even though everything felt fine and gave me so much joy in the way we were doing it, it was also like, ‘Oh no, this could just be horrible, but now I’m committed,'” she added.
Barbie was the movie of the summer — and 2023 in general, cementing its status as Warner Bros.’ the highest-grossing theatrical release of all time, not adjusted for inflation, through the end of August.
The film has now earned more than $1.435 million in global ticket sales, after crossing over The Movie Super Mario Bros as the highest grossing film of 2023 so far.
During her appearance at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, Gerwig also revealed that she decided to do her own undercover field research during the film’s opening weekend in July by hiding in the back of the theater during screenings to see the audience’s reaction.
“I went to different theaters and kind of stood in the back, and then I would also turn up the volume if I felt it wasn’t playing at the perfect level,” she said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Gerwig said that at one of those screenings, she heard a woman get fired up over a particularly racy text about the Proust Barbie. “And I said: ‘That joke was for you!’ “, she told the festival audience.
The director said Barbie it was the “most joyful” experience she had ever had on set.
“So I thought, if I can make a movie that’s half as fun to watch as it was to make, I think we might have a chance,” Gerwig said.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education