Greta Gerwig on ‘Barbie’ v ‘Oppenheimer’: “It’s all love”
Following the movie’s successful pre-launch tour, Barbie premiered in Los Angeles. To accommodate the movie’s aesthetic, the actors and production staff walked down a pink carpet to the exciting debut. Over the past few weeks, movie fans have stirred up a friendly rivalry between Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, with both movies set to arrive in cinemas on July 21st.
Gerwig, recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about Barbie. “We wrote it at such a specific time, in the midst of lockdown and everything else, and I was like, I don’t even know if there’s going to be movies again, but if there are, let’s write the most outrageous, anarchic, hilarious thing,” she said, first discussing the project.
“Let’s, imaginary, go out with a bang. It was something where I decided I had to direct it once the script was written, and it was really like I just wanted to make that one, that was the one. So I was like, if we can’t do it, that’s fine, but I hope they let us.”
Continuing, Gerwig addressed the viral response to Margot Robbie’s Barbie foot, which has been seen in an arched position ready to fit any high-heeled shoes, like the toy. Explaining that she didn’t expect such a huge reaction, Robbie said, “I did always think of the arched foot as like a bat signal, but everybody was like ‘I’ve heard the bat signal, I’ve answered the call!'”
Issa Rae, who portrays President Barbie in the movie, added, “thank god they weren’t taking off my shoe in the film because the arch wouldn’t be as graceful. I was surprised, I was like, ‘Margot, that was your foot?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah.’ The confidence you have to have in that, it just says everything about her. Everything you need to know about her is the fact that she has her own arched foot effortlessly in that movie. And it’s already an iconic foot. I would’ve still been there if it was me; they would’ve been like, ‘Alright, take 230, just please get it right.’ I’m a flat-footed girl.”
Later in the conversation, Gerwig discussed the friendly rivalry between Barbie and Oppenheimer. “It’s all love — double up, double up twice,” she said. “I think you’ve got to see what the experience is, Barbie then Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer then Barbie. I think you’ve got to take all of the journeys.”
Rae added that it’s “hilarious; I love that there’s solidarity though where people tried to pit us against one another, but now it’s turned into like a double-feature situation. Obviously, you should see Oppenheimer first and then cleanse your palate with Barbie.”
She noted that Nolan’s historical drama is “about an atomic bomb, people are gonna die. I want to end my weekend, I want to have mimosas and drinks and cocktails after Barbie, I don’t want to like sulk,” teasing, “That’s just my plan, as long as you’re seeing Barbie I don’t care.”
Last week, Gerwig and Robbie announced that they would join Tom Cruise in his movie marathon challenge on the Barbie/Oppenheimer release day.
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