Credit: Warner Bros.“What Barbie do you see yourself as right now, personally, in this phase of your life?”
That’s the question that was, essentially, posed by the initial marketing campaign for Barbie – the big, bright, poppy “This Barbie Is…” images that the internet meme-ified within minutes once they released.
People all over, from stars to average Josephines, were posting pictures of themselves pasted over the brightly-colored starburst shapes, labeled with everything ranging from their profession to their emotional state of mind.
That is also the question, that, because of said memes, Fandango saw fit to ask Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, America Fererra, and Kate McKinnon in a recent interview.
America Fererra and Kate McKinnon Gave Two Comically Different Answers
Related: Kate McKinnon Says ‘Barbie’ Movie Proves That Gender Roles Are Dumb
America Fererra first made it clear that she’s not a Barbie, she’s a human – but she knew we knew that about her. She meant in the movie.
Fererra is the only person in the group who, in Barbie, does not hail from BarbieLand. In the most recent trailer, you can see her in the car with Margot Robbie’s Malibu Barbie, getting a tour for what is obviously the very first time.
Many have speculated that Fererra’s character, who is simply billed as “Gloria,” is likely an employee at Mattel, the company that created Barbie (headed by CEO Will Ferrell in the film.)
Fererra, similar to many people on the internet, especially women, went the self-care route with her Barbie slogan, saying:
“I guess the goal before was like, Be Everything To Everyone Barbie, and now the goal is like, Be Everything To Myself Barbie.
Kate McKinnon, at this point, was also sweet enough to jump in and say, “I think you’re an America Barbie.” (There was a little confusion before she clarified: “Not the country! The You!”)
McKinnon, for her part, simply said:
“For reasons that I won’t get into now, I’m Kayak Barbie.”
Right on, Kate.
Issa Rae Is The Most Focused Barbie On The Planet
Related: What Is “Big Ken Energy?” Margot Robbie and Issa Rae of ‘Barbie’ Explain
Issa Rae, meanwhile, got straight to the point with her answer:
“I’ma say this Barbie is On-Track Barbie. That’s it. I’m just focused in a new, different way, and not worried about other directions.”
A a demonstrative answer if there ever was one – even her replies are incredibly focused – and given that she is currently running both Hoorae Productions and Raedio – a production and audio production company, respectively – that’s a very good thing.
Running a production company is no easy task, and it’s incredibly hard to multi-task while you’re doing it – especially given that “Producer” often means “designated multitasker” when it comes to projects like hers.
Speaking of being a multitasking producer, it was the movie’s star-slash-producer, Margot Robbie, whose answer to the question was the most interesting – even if on the surface, it sounded fairly similar to her co-stars’ answers.
Margot Robbie Might Be Transitioning From Acting Barbie to Producing Barbie
Related: ‘Barbie’ Cast Describes the Weirdest Ways They Played With Their Barbies
Margot Robbie’s answer to the question seemed regular enough, but in the context of her interviews during the rest of this press tour, we wonder if she might be hinting at a big career move:
I think I was very Do-It-All Barbie…like multitasking was such an asset – and now I’m kinda like, Do-It-Well Barbie, like I kinda wanna do less and just be better at those few things.
In earlier interviews on the film’s press circuit, Robbie has indicated that she had no intention of playing Barbie in this film when her production company, LuckyChap, began working on it. Greta Gerwig, and many others involved, seem to have more or less assumed that she would step into the role, and eventually she got the memo.
It’s also no secret that Robbie has been busy – that same interview where she first mentioned that she wasn’t her own first choice described her as being in “producer mode,” constantly running around, making and answering phone calls, firing off texts, etc.
It certainly wouldn’t be a stretch to translate Margot Robbie saying she wants to do fewer things and do them better as her saying she wants to stop trying to focus on two careers at once, and simply focus on becoming the best producer she can be for the foreseeable future. (Not that she’s not obviously doing a great job so far.)
If this is true, it’s all the more reason to savor what will no doubt be a phenomenal acting performance from Robbie when Barbie finally comes to theaters on July 21.
Want to see it sooner? There are advanced screening tickets available in select cities – you can check to see if there are any still available near you.
Do you think Margot Robbie is hinting that she’s going to stop acting for a while? What do you think of the decision? Drop your opinion in the comments below.