Greta Gerwig didn’t tell Noah Baumbach that he was writing Barbie

“Honey, I’m home… and we’re writing the Barbie movie!”

It’s a phrase few Hollywood couples could believe to say. But for Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who actually co-wrote Warner Bros. and Mattel’s upcoming “Barbie” adventure, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, it was a conversation that needed to be had.

“I had met Margot a long time ago,” Gerwig explains of her journey to the Barbie director’s chair on a new episode of Dua Lipa’s At Your Service podcast. “That was just before I started production on ‘Little Women.’ We met at something else and it didn’t work out in the end. But I liked her so much. I thought she was just very smart and really wonderful. So I thought, ‘Well, if I ever get a chance to work with her again, I’ll do it.'”

Robbie secured the rights to Barbie through her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment. With Mattel and Warner Bros. on board, Robbie began scouting for writers to tackle the screenplay in early 2020.

“She came up to me and said, ‘Would you be interested in writing this?'” Gerwig recalled. “And I said, ‘Yes!’ And then I said, ‘And Noah would like to write it too.’ And I hadn’t really spoken to Noah about it.”

Gerwig continued: “I don’t know! I think I had a six month old baby when I said yes? And I didn’t necessarily direct everything from him… It was March 2020 when Noah said, ‘Should we write a ‘Barbie’ movie?’ I said yes.’ He said: “I have no ideas for that! Why didn’t you oblige us to write something else?’ And I thought, ‘Because I have a feeling. I like Margot and I have a feeling.’”

After cracking the concept herself — a process Gerwig described as “terrifying” — she brought her ideas to Baumbach and the pair “started building it together.” From then on, Gerwig says, her anxiety about the film turned to excitement. Filming on Barbie began in March this year.

“At first I didn’t know I was going to direct,” she said. “And then at a certain point while we were writing it, I realized that I really wanted to direct it because I thought it was so awesome. I think the moment I knew I wanted to direct was when Noah said to me, ‘Are you sure you want to direct?’ And I said, ‘Oh, we are she Interested in directing? No, no, this is mine.’”

The lively film gained fans early in the summer when first-look photos of Gosling and Robbie in neon outfits went viral online. When asked if Gerwig had seen any Barbie and Ken inspired Halloween costumes this year, Gerwig said, “I saw a ‘Barbie’ costume in the wild at a party! It was surreal.”

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