‘Barbie’ Behind the Scenes: How Old Movie Musicals Inspired Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig (Exclusive)

The Barbie cast and crew is taking you behind the scenes of the stunning sets, costumes and props in a new featurette from the record-breaking film.

In ET’s exclusive clip, writer-director Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Cera and more marvel at the world of BarbieLand, most of which was constructed practically on sound stages by the film’s talented crew.

“Walking into those environments and feeling the kind of artistry and the love, the playfulness, it was so exciting,” marvels Gosling, the film’s central Ken.

Cera, who plays Ken’s BFF Allan, agrees, noting, “The fact that all of this is practical, and has been built, does a lot for the cast.”

Robbie brought the rights and executive produced the film under her LuckyChap Entertainment banner, which she founded in 2014 alongside husband Tom Ackerly. The couple’s inspiration for bringing Barbie to the big screen was a long time in the making, stretching all the way back to vintage Hollywood.

“We had a vision of old filmmaking techniques, and, as reference points, we watched a lot of old movie musicals,” Ackerly shares in the clip.

“I love the interiority of those musicals, and how they are ‘authentically artificial,'” Gerwig agrees, referencing a phrase that the crew said became something of a standby for her during production. “They have this heightened emotionality that comes from its artificiality.”

For Gerwig, the magic of BarbieLand was the most important piece of creating her toy-inspired cinematic masterpiece — which made her the first female solo director to surpass $1 billion at the box office last month.

“In a way, BarbieLand is a world without aging, it’s a world without death, it’s a world without mistakes,” she explains. “A big part of it was trying to make sure that I didn’t let the adult part of my brain take over and run the show. That I was like, ‘What did the little girl want?’ Iridescent purple and brighter, brighter pink.”

Barbie is available now on digital and on demand.

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