The leadership board at Mattel – the toy manufacturing company behind Barbie dolls – may have been portrayed as an all-male operation in the Barbie movie, but the real team looks a little different.
In Greta Gerwig’s new film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – which has been praised for its feminist message and storytelling – the chair of the all-male board is played by Will Ferrell.
The actor pops up in the film to “play the dim-witted CEO”, as NME wrote a four-star review.
The real Chairman and CEO of Mattel, Ynon Kreiz, is indeed male, but does sit alongside female board members, too.
According to the Mattel website, the real Board Of Directors currently consists of six men and five women, who comprise “global leaders from various fields and industries, with a broad and diverse range of experiences and perspectives required to provide independent governance and oversee the execution of our long-term strategy”.
The feminist messaging of Barbie has been a key topic of discussion after opening weekend (July 21).
America Ferrera, who plays Mattel executive Gloria, revealed that one of the most pivotal sequences of dialogue – about the double standards women face – took 30 to 50 takes to film.
“It worked on the page, and so I definitely wanted to give that feeling to the audience as the person performing it— to make it resonate the way that it did with me when I read the words on the page,” Ferrera told Vanity Fair.
The actor said that while it “felt like” 500 takes, it was probably closer to 30 to 50 “full runs”.
In other Barbie news, it was recently revealed that the marketing budget was more than it cost to make the film.
According to Variety, the marketing budget for the film was a staggering $150million (£117m), eclipsing the $145million (£113m) it cost to actually make the film itself.
Elsewhere, Robbie has said she was teased by her friends for not having a kissing scene with Barbie co-star Gosling.
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