America Ferrera’s Barbie Speech Took 2 Days, ‘Probably 30-50’ Takes to Film

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America Ferrera’s Barbie Speech Took 2 Days, ‘Probably 30-50’ Takes to Film

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are the stars of the recently released Barbie. However, America Ferrera steals the show at the film’s climax with an impassioned monologue — something that the actress said took effort to get right.

Ferrera’s multiple takes all range in delivery and emotion

In the film, Ferrera’s Gloria delivers an impassioned speech about the many double standards women face on a daily basis. The speech helps break the Barbies out of their Ken-flicted brainwashing. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Ferrera said they filmed the scene over two days. The actress says she had to go through the full run of it “30 to 50 times.”

“We shot it over two days,” Ferrera said. “It’s one part of a much bigger scene with lots of characters in it. I had to do it many, many times for other people’s coverage and to get through the whole scene and over the course of two days.”

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However, this wasn’t director Greta Gerwig trying to get things just right. Instead, it was Ferrara trying to find the take that best suited her.

“There were moments in shooting the movie where Greta really had written something in a very specific way that she heard a very specific way in her head with particular cadence in a particular speed or a particular inflection,” Ferrera said. “I thought maybe this would be like that, but it was the opposite. She wanted me to completely make it my own and find it as we did it.”

Ferrera said that by the end of the process, even some of her own co-stars had memorized her lines. Altogether, she estimated the scene took between 30-50 takes.

What is Barbie about?

Barbie is directed by Oscar-nominee filmmaker Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. Joining Robbie are Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Hari Nef, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Dua Lipa and more.

The film is produced by Robbie and Tom Ackerly for LuckyChap and Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner, along with Josey McNamara and Ynon Kreiz. This marks Robbie’s latest collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures after starring as fan-favorite anti-hero Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad, 2020’s Birds of Prey, and 2021’s The Suicide Squad.