Greta Gerwig’s third solo directorial effort, Barbie, has been hotly anticipated since its announcement. With information about the movie being drip-fed to us and an ever-growing cast of brilliant actors, everything we learned about the project was exciting. After Lady Bird and Little Women, which were both set in the past and relatively similar tonally, the fact that Gerwig took on the brightly-colored, camp world of Barbie is fascinating. Her comedic chops have never been in doubt, so her ability to succeed with the project was not questioned by many, but the departure remains an interesting one.
While Gerwig’s directorial position was trusted, as was her casting of Margot Robbie as Barbie, there was some controversy around Ken being played by Ryan Gosling, who some argued didn’t look the part. However, in an interview with GQ, he rightfully pointed out that, “If you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken,” demonstrating both his knowledge of the character and the artificial nature of the outrage. With all this coming before anyone had seen more than a couple of minutes from the trailer, it would all come down to the big reveal on release day. To see how the 11 best performances in Barbie turned out, keep reading.
11 Ariana Greenblatt — Sasha
Despite being only 15 years old, Ariana Greenblatt has a hugely impressive filmography to her name. She featured in Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War as the young version of Gamora and also starred alongside Adam Driver in the action movie 65. In Barbie, however, she plays Sasha, who Barbie believes is the child playing with her doll and causing her malfunctions.
Playing the moody teenager isn’t an easy task as there’s a fine line between moodiness that reads as funny versus irritating. This is particularly significant in a movie like Barbie, which has a largely upbeat and humorous tone. But Greenblatt succeeds in balancing mood swings, comedy, and heart perfectly, all while being a teenager herself.
10 Hari Nef — Doctor Barbie
One of the countless Barbies in the movie is played by Hari Nef, the doctor of Barbie Land. She graciously attends to Ken’s beach accident with her delightful fold-out hospital room, but is unable to cure Barbie’s unfortunate flat feet. With such a large number of Barbies present in the movie, it’s hard for individuals to stand out, but Nef did a wonderful and hilarious job with her scenes.
Outside of Barbie Land, Nef has had roles in movies such as Assassination Nation and has made appearances in shows that include Transparent and You. Barbie is an excellent display of her comedic talents, and it’s exciting to see her in such a large-scale production.
9 Alexandra Shipp — Author Barbie
Another Barbie, this time a celebrated author, is played by Alexandra Shipp. After her role as Storm in the X-Men franchise, the world of Barbie is quite the departure. Barbie the author is less of a comedic role than many of the others and Shipp works with that characterization well. Of course, she’s still funny, but she is also more sincere or direct than most of the characters, particularly those who reside in Barbie Land. She’s an important component of the cast and adds dimension to an over-the-top ensemble.
8 Sharon Rooney — Lawyer Barbie
The Barbie played by Sharon Rooney is a Barbie Land lawyer. Rooney is best known for playing the lead role in the brilliant British series My Mad Fat Diary, but you may have also seen her in the live action Dumbo or The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Among so many Barbies, she stands out due to her unbeatable comic timing.
In the opening sequence that introduces a handful of the numerous Barbies out there, her section was the funniest and this is in no small part thanks to her delivery. With only a brief moment to make her mark, she succeeded in spades. Hopefully, this home-run of a role will introduce her to a more international audience who may not have encountered her wonderful screen presence before.
7 Will Ferrell — Mattel CEO
One of the biggest names among a cast of big names is Will Ferrell, who plays the nameless CEO of Mattel in the human world. He doesn’t require much of an introduction after starring in the likes of Elf, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Step Brothers, but his presence in such a pink movie like Barbie may have come as a surprise.
Ferrell is, however, well suited to the buffoonish CEO role where he finds himself in a cartoon style chase with Barbie to get her back to Barbie Land. It would have been easy to phone in this kind of performance, but it was clear that Ferrell was putting in a lot of energy and having fun doing it.
6 Michael Cera — Allan
Michael Cera plays one of the dolls who are not Barbie or Ken, but Allan. If that doesn’t ring any bells, don’t be alarmed, there was only ever one Allan, and he’s just Ken’s buddy. He doesn’t fit in with the Kens or Barbies in Barbie Land and makes an attempt to escape. As a one of a kind character, it’s easy for Cera to make a bigger impact in this role, and he makes the most of every second of screen time.
With no expectations to live up to, Allan is a surprising delight of Barbie. Cera himself has a number of recognizable roles under his belt. From cult classic comedies such as Superbad, Juno, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World to dramas including Gloria Bell and Molly’s Game, it’s unlikely you haven’t seen him before.
5 Simu Liu — Also Ken
Simu Liu plays the first Ken of the list. While this Ken doesn’t have a particular profession of his own, the role he serves in the movie is that of Gosling’s Ken’s rival. Both Kens are competing for the attention of Robbie’s Barbie, although neither really gets much from her. This rivalry is the source of many laughs across the movie’s runtime and Liu and Gosling bounce off each other really well.
Liu himself found fame when he became Shaun or Shang-Chi in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Beyond that, he had a recurring role on the sitcom Kim’s Convenience as well as starring in the movie One True Loves.
4 Kate McKinnon — Weird Barbie
Though she’s not based on a canonical Barbie, Kate McKinnon‘s character of Weird Barbie is one of the most recognizable of them all. She’s the Barbie that was played with too hard, with her hair cut off, permanent marker on her face, and stuck doing the splits — we’ve all seen it.
Something of a surprise is that Weird Barbie is actually central to the story of Barbie, both in terms of plot and emotion. So, if the role had gone to someone else, it would have had a significant impact on the outcome of the project. Fortunately, McKinnon, famous for Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters, was perfect for the role as an actor who, once again, managed to perfect the necessary balance of comedy and heart.
3 Margot Robbie — Barbie
In the central role of Stereotypical Barbie, as she refers to herself, is Margot Robbie. This Barbie is going through an existential crisis and this is very much not part of the Barbie lifestyle, which only makes it worse. Robbie has the fascinating task of playing a doll coming to terms with the idea of mortality and learning what it means to be human, something that is very different from what she had believed all her life.
For most of the movie she remains poised and put together, but she is at her best when she is allowed to lean into the out of control feeling that Barbie is experiencing. Robbie often plays characters who could be described as unhinged, such as Tonya Harding or Harley Quinn, so this more pulled back role is a joy to watch.
2 America Ferrera — Gloria
America Ferrera, known for Ugly Betty, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and How to Train Your Dragon, plays Gloria, Sasha’s mother and the Mattel CEO’s secretary. She’s dissatisfied with her life and feels distant from Sasha, but this all changes when she’s swept up in Barbie’s real world adventure. Gloria is an underdog contender for the best part of the movie.
She may be a regular human, but Ferrera plays the part with such passion and care that it sweeps you along with her. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about her showstopping monologue, she says, “There’s no woman in my life that this isn’t true for, so, how do you tell the truth? That was the goal,” which is a lot of pressure to put on yourself, but the results were worth it.
1 Ryan Gosling — Ken
For a movie like Barbie, it feels like a crime to say the best performance was from a man, but unfortunately, there’s no denying that this is what Ryan Gosling was born for. His performance as the main Ken was unbelievably funny, consistently bringing in the biggest laughs of the movie. He was able to hit the right emotional beats throughout Ken’s entire journey, which will not be spoiled here, but there are certainly ups and downs.
Anyone who has seen Gosling’s more comedic work like The Nice Guys or even La La Land will have expected this success, but he very much proved the doubters wrong. From his dance battles to his inability to find a job, Gosling embodied Ken perfectly.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
