- The "Barbie" cast took on a "dress up your doll" challenge in a recent Time interview.
- Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, and Alexandra Shipp all play different Barbies.
- The actresses discuss the film and share childhood memories of playing with the doll.
The cast of "Barbie" looked like they were having fun playing with dolls at a roundtable discussion for a Time interview published June 27.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, and Alexandra Shipp got to express their creativity in a few rounds of challenges where they had to dress up their Barbie for a variety of situations — the Met Gala, being named TIME Person of the Year, and being a superhero.
Margot Robbie's superhero doll was an unclothed Ken with shoulder-length blonde hair. He has the special ability to go invisible.
"Which is why he's not wearing anything, because when he goes invisible, then you'd see the clothes walking around," Robbie added, as she held the naked Ken doll in her hands.
"I have no recollection of playing with Ken, but don't tell Ken that," admitted the actress, who plays the lead Barbie.
Robbie also revealed details behind the viral tiptoes scene in the movie's main trailer during the roundtable. "Yeah, they're my feet. We probably did maybe eight takes, and no I wasn't wearing a harness, but I did hold on to like a bar when I got there so that I was more steady."
Issa Rae's superhero Barbie is named Period and has the ability to inflict period cramps on men.
"So she's dressed provocatively to tempt men, and then she's like 'take these cramps!'" said Rae, showing off her superhero Barbie rocking a fully pink look reminiscent of the preppy style.
"I definitely had a weird Barbie growing up," shared Rae, who plays President Barbie in the upcoming live-action film. The first President Barbie was released in 1992.
Rae also shared with Time that she was worried that the film was going to "feel too white feminist-y," though she thinks it's "self-aware."
Kate McKinnon's superhero Barbie is named Sandwich Girl and her superpower is always having a sandwich in her bag "to give to someone who needs food."
"But the problem is she also looks like a flasher," said McKinnon, as she waved her trench-coat-wearing doll around and allowed little bags to swing on its extended arms. Sandwich Girl is also wearing a bag on her head.
McKinnon had watched her sister and friends mangle their Barbies by drawing on her face, cutting her hair, and setting her on fire, and she thinks it was them expressing their emotions. "They were externalizing how they felt, and they felt different," said McKinnon — who plays Weird Barbie — to Time.
Alexandra Shipp's superhero Barbie is named Any Mal and has the ability to "turn into any type of animal."
"She's giving cheetah, she's giving leopard, she's giving polar bear realness," said Shipp as she points to her doll donning animal prints and a white fur hat. Any Mal also does vocal runs instead of roaring, Shipp added.
As a child, Shipp projected onto the dolls, per Time. "When you're a kid, your toys are an extension of who you are and how you can exist in the world as an adult," Shipp said.
"I was that kid who had specific Barbies I would play with and others I would keep. I allowed myself to take my Spice Girl Barbies out of the box. Looking back, I shouldn't have done that. But I have a Black Y2K Barbie that's in a ballgown and has a disco ball. The box hasn't even been tampered with. I'm obsessed with her and I still collect Barbies to this day," Shipp told Interview.
Hari Nef's superhero Barbie is named "Hot Girl" and her ability is to get "really hot, literally."
"It's baked potato couture. She's burning...evil," Nef explains to her co-stars, while presenting her superhero doll wrapped in silver fashion from head to toe, and a matching pair of "heat-proof" glasses.
Nef, who plays Doctor Barbie, cited Gerwig as the reason she joined the film. "I knew this was not going to shy away from the parts of Barbie that are more interesting but potentially a little bit more fraught," said the actress.
"Barbie" will be in theaters July 21.
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