A DOLL'S HOUSE

America Ferrera on reconstructing Barbie for a new generation of young women.

- HELENA LEE

America Ferrera was never a Barbie girl. Born to Honduran parents in LA, the actress wasn’t interested in the blue-eyed, blonde-haired doll. ‘I didn’t play with Barbies for a number of reasons,’ she says. ‘We couldn’t afford them. And they just didn’t resonate with me. I didn’t see myself reflected in that world in a way that captured my imagination.’

It seems curious, then, that the actress, who is known as a champion of inclusivity, takes top billing alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the new Barbie film, one of the most-hyped releases in cinematic history. But, as she explains, ‘What’s exciting about being a part of this movie about such an influential icon in our culture is getting to expand and shift the narrative to include more of us, so young girls and boys can see themselves in something so dominant.’

Ferrera’s character Gloria, a Mattel employee who is ‘low on the totem pole’, is central to the action: a woman whose imagination, fears and aspirations drive the story. The film itself is an existential jamboree, in which ‘stereotypical Barbie’, played by Robbie (who conceived the project), leaves the utopia of Barbie Land on a quest to discover why she has developed ‘thoughts of death’ and cellulite. The two characters meet in the real world, and an irreverent and comedic odyssey ensues.