The upcoming Barbie film has, well, a whole lot of Barbie. Featuring Margot Robbie as the lead Barbie, we see different iterations of the character, just as there has been with the dolls since their first inception. But there is one unique Barbie that is… How can we put this delicately, not like the others. Let’s look at who is playing Weird Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film.
There are many Barbies in Barbie Land and the film has a whole host of wonderful actresses playing them, we have Robbie in the lead role, looking just like the classic version of the doll with her flowing, glossy blonde hair and blue eyes, then there is also Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie, Issa Rae as President Barbie, Emma Mackey as Nobel Prize Scientist Barbie, Ana Cruz Kayne as Supreme Court Justice Barbie, the list goes on and on.
But then there is Weird Barbie, or Destroyed Barbie as some have dubbed her. This Barbie does not have long glossy locks or perfectly applied make-up, this Barbie has seen some things. She is played by the SNL alumni, queen of comedy, Kate McKinnon, who we believe is the perfect casting choice. McKinnon sports many of the features of classic Barbie, blonde hair, blue eyes, and great cheekbones, but, much like the actress herself, normal isn’t a part of this Barbie’s vocabulary.
Based on the trailer, it would appear that this Barbie lives rather separate from the others, in her own abstract-looking house. Robbie’s Barbie pays her a visit when her perfect life starts to somewhat untangle in order to get answers, and upon meeting this estranged Barbie she is greeted by a spiky short-haired character with drawings on her face and a less-than-flattering dress. This Weird Barbie is, as McKinnon put it in an interview with Kelly Clarkson, “the one Barbie you designate as “her” where you cut their hair and burn their clothes and draw on them. That’s the one I play.”
Gerwig spoke about her inspiration for this version of the character, which came from many places. The director told Rolling Stone:
“Remember that book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, where the giver has all the colors and the feelings and stuff? That’s sort of what I thought about Kate’s character. She would be like the giver in a way like she had the knowledge that everyone else didn’t have.”
Beyond that though, the character is also one that Gerwig felt a personal connection to from her own childhood.
“We grew up in a neighborhood where there were a lot of girls older than me. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies that had already gotten a haircut by the time I got them. It was like, “Well, we have to do that.”
McKinnon is a phenomenal comedic actress, which is why Gerwig was drawn to her for this role. The two have actually known each other for quite some time, having been in an improv group together back at Columbia University. Of working together once more, Gerwig said, “It was like, we’d gotten into a time machine when we were 18 and came out at 39. The reality is, we’re still the 18-year-old kids who are making musicals.”
McKinnon has proven her genius over and over again during her time on SNL. She started on the show in 2012 and earned high praise for her character work embodying the likes of Hillary Clinton, Kellyanne Conway, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Sessions, as well as pop culture figures like Justin Bieber and Ellen DeGeneres. She has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on the show numerous times, winning twice, back to back, in 2016 and 2017, becoming the first SNL actor to win the award since Dana Carvey won in 1993.
McKinnon left SNL in 2022, but has worked on numerous film projects throughout her time on the show including Ghostbusters, Rough Night, Office Christmas Party, and Yesterday. This also isn’t the first time she has acted in a film with Robbie, having starred in the 2019 film Bombshell. Alongside Barbie she will also voice a character in the fourth installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise playing The Chameleon.
You can catch McKinnon as Weird Barbie, permanently doing the splits, in Barbie which will land in theatres on July 21, so soon now!