“We did it 116 times”: Greta Gerwig Reveals True Inspiration Behind Barbie’s Travel Sequence
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is one of the biggest blockbusters of 2023, and it even gave Christopher Nolan a run for his money. Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, this movie is fun to watch, intellectually stimulating, boasts a stellar cast, and talks about important topics at hand like feminism and late-stage capitalism that affect it. The movie has grossed $1.44 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie of 2023. It had record-breaking nominations for twelve Grammy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, and a record-breaking eighteen Critics’ Choice Awards.
Every scene of Barbie is tremendously well-crafted. However, one scene that particularly got much praise from the critics was Barbie traveling from her dream world to the real world with Ken. Recently, in an interview, Greta Gerwig revealed the true inspiration behind the travel sequence of Barbie.
Greta Gerwig’s inspiration behind the travel scene of Barbie
While talking to Shotdeck about her inspiration for the travel sequence, the Little Women director said that she was actually inspired a lot by the Old Spice commercials. When she said that, the interviewer burst into laughter and then acknowledged that it was actually a great reference. According to Greta Gerwig, she called up the commercial director and asked them how they managed to shoot it, and they replied, “We did it 116 times.”
“I actually talked to the director, and I was like ‘how did you do that?’ And he said we did it 116 times.”
Although she did not have that much time in her hand to do it 116 times, she did pull it off flawlessly, and that is how the iconic travel scene of Barbie came to be.
Greta Gerwig makes history as the first American female director to head Cannes Festival jury
The versatile actor, director, and writer Greta Gerwig will preside as a jury member at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May. She is the first American female director to head the Cannes Festival jury. Gerwig is the second youngest person to pull off this feat since Sofia Loren, who was the head of the jury in 1966 at age 31. Gerwig gave an official statement, saying:
“I’m overwhelmed, enthusiastic and touched with humility,” the statement quoted Gerwig as saying. “I can’t wait to discover what voyages await us!” She described Cannes as “the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be.”
(via. USA Today)
Also Read: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Absolutely Conquers Golden Globes 2024 With a Whopping 9 Nods
Festival officials are also excited to have her on board, as is evident from the statement of festival president Iris Knobloch and general delegate Thierry Frémaux:
“This is an obvious choice, since Greta Gerwig so audaciously embodies the renewal of world cinema, for which Cannes is each year both the forerunner and the sounding board.”
One other American actress heralded the jury in 1965, and that is Olivia de Haviland. However, unlike Gerwig, she was not a director.
Barbie will be streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max) once it is out on digital platforms.
