Later this month, the world will forever change when Barbie releases. The film is getting a nuclear level of buzz, just may knock Christopher Nolan off his block as his Oppenheimer opens around the same time, and, now, some (and probably Quentin Tarantino, too) are wondering if a foot shot in its trailers is real.
For those who have not seen any of the film’s surprisingly existential (Margot Robbie’s Barbie asks the others — along with various Ken’s — if they think about dying) marketing, the beginning shot of the main trailer Warner Bros. put on their official YouTube channel a month ago begins with feet stepping out of a pair of high heels and remaining arched as if they never left the pair of footwear. As anyone who has actually worn the things knows, this does not normally happen, and it has blown minds.
Now, people can thankfully sleep soundly at night as director Greta Gerwig has clarified these are indeed Robbie’s real feet. On the Australian talk show The Project, the 39-year-old says they thought about using CGI for all the feet in the film when characters are in Barbie’s world, but this would have been too hard.
“‘Are you going to CGI all the feet?’ And I thought, ‘Oh god, no! That’s terrifying! That’s a nightmare.’ [Margot] has the nicest feet. She has these beautiful dancer feet. She should just hang on to that bar.”
The film’s star has also addressed the imagery elsewhere, too. A recent TIME report reveals the shot took eight takes, and Robbie really did hold onto a bar in order to keep her feet flexed. She does not like it when someone subs for hands or feet in insert shots, and the 33-year-old has been in similar territory before. During the filming of The Suicide Squad, she really did a stunt where she took out a character with her legs while handcuffed to the ceiling, only to then use her feet to grab the keys and unlock herself using her toes. Director James Gunn was justifiably mesmerized by all of it.
Whether the Barbie movie contains something similar or other shots as interesting as the feet remains to be seen. Audiences will find out for themselves July 21 and, in the U.K., the piece has been slapped with a rating blocking those younger than 12 from seeing it on their own unless accompanied by an older adult.