In a recent interview, actress Margot Robbie, known for her role in the live-action film Barbie, shared that director Greta Gerwig envisioned her character going on a “classic hero journey,” drawing inspiration from legendary figures such as Buddha.
The highly anticipated project revolves around Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they navigate the real world in search of happiness after Barbie is exiled from Barbieland due to her imperfections.
Barbie also features an ensemble cast including Helen Mirren, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Alexandra Shipp, John Cena, Nicola Coughlan, Kate McKinnon, and many others. While promoting the movie, Robbie discussed with Comic Book the early stages of the film’s development and why Barbie’s transformative journey was likened to that of Buddha.
According to the National Geographic Society, Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha, achieved the highest level of enlightenment by renouncing his wealth and embarking on a journey of meditation and travel. He later founded Buddhism around the 5th century B.C.E. in South Asia, and its influence has spread globally over the years.
During their discussions, Gerwig shared her vision with Robbie, explaining that Barbie’s mission would transcend the typical storyline by addressing real-life challenges and the search for purpose. Robbie expressed her initial reaction to Gerwig’s idea:
“It was very clear. Greta said right from one of our first conversations, she was like, ‘I think Barbie goes on the classic hero journey.’ Kind of like the Buddha’s journey to enlightenment, is the journey that Barbie should go on. Which is, when you know Greta, you’re like, ‘Of course that’s what Greta’s take on Barbie would be,’ but anyone else would never say that in a million years, and as soon as she said it, I was like, ‘Wow.’ It’s weird.”
Robbie further elaborated that embracing Gerwig’s vision allowed her to explore new territory in her craft. Despite having featured in over 30 projects, she had never embarked on a classic hero’s journey before. She shared:
“I was reading Hero with a Thousand Faces. A hundred faces? A thousand? You know that book? … James Campbell. Anyways, it’s all of that. Yeah, it’s a book that has a lot to do with the hero’s journey, et cetera. But she started there and I realized like, ‘Oh, I haven’t really done this before.’ I haven’t played the lead character that many times. And when I have, it hasn’t necessarily been the classic hero journey before.”
Robbie concluded by acknowledging Gerwig’s guidance throughout the process, enabling her to successfully portray the role of Barbie:
“So as far as the approach as an actor, I did the things I normally do when I prep for a character. But because it was this classic hero’s journey that I hadn’t really done before, it ended up being a lot of conversations with Greta about life and happiness and what it means to be alive and just big existential questions. And I didn’t see that coming.”
The live-action adaptation of Barbie is set to release in theaters on July 21.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
