Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie, and ‘Barbie’ director Greta Gerwig.Photo:Jaap Buitendijk

Director/Writer GRETA GERWIG, Margot Robbie and RYAN GOSLING on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures BARBIE a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Jaap Buitendijk

Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig, and Margot Robbie.Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

“It wasn’t like I ever got the full seal of approval from [Mattel], like, ‘We love it!’ I got a tentative, ‘Well, okay. I see that you are going to do this, so go ahead and we’ll see how it goes.’ But that’s all you need, and I had faith once it was in there and they saw it, that they would embrace it, not fight it. Maybe at the end of the day, my will to have it in was stronger than any other will to take it out,” Gerwig said.

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The megahit movie, which tackles the iconic dollleaving Barbie Landand exploring the real world (and its issues), has been years in the making. In a recent appearance ontheSmartLesspodcast, Gerwig talked about the exact moment she knewRyan Goslingwas meant to be her Ken. The vision came after she sawThe Notebookstar on a 2017 episode ofSaturday Night Live. In theSNLskit, Gosling played a preppy “Guy Who Just Joined Soho House” alongside Alex Moffat as “Guy Who Just Bought a Boat” during the sketch show’s “Weekend Update” segment withColin Jost.

“You know those actors you can…just sort of feelthat they know what’s funny, and I always felt that about him,” Gerwig said during her chat withSmartLess. “And then I’m a big fan of all of hisSNLs, I always thought he was great onSNL… He did ‘Guy That Just Got a Boat’ on ‘Weekend Update,’ and it’s so good.” The spoof led her to envision him as “Beach Ken."

Ryan Gosling on Saturday Night Live.Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Ryan Gosling as Guy Who Just Joined Soho House, Alex Moffat as A Guy Who Just Bought a Boat, Colin Jost during Weekend Update in studio 8H on September 30, 2017

Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

“We wrote his name into the script and everything… and [Gosling’s name] was everywhere. And then when we handed them the script, the studio was like, ‘Oh, it’s so wonderful that you know Ryan.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Ryan. I’ve never met Ryan, I have no idea,'” Gerwig recalled.

During an April appearance at CinemaCon 2023 in Las Vegas with the cast, Gerwig confessed that once the time finally came to begin filming, she “cried when I stepped on the set for the first time.” She added, “It was so touching.”

Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling.Jaap Buitendijk

Director/Writer GRETA GERWIG and RYAN GOSLING on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “BARBIE,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Barbiealso starsMargot Robbie,America Ferrera,Issa Rae,Kate McKinnon,Michael Cera,Simu LiuandWill Ferrell.

Barbieis in theaters now.

source: people.com