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While the recently released film Barbie looks all fun and pink and not-so-serious, there was a lot that went down during the production phase that makes the movie what it is. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling starrer Barbie raises some important questions about the current social and cultural dynamics, man-woman relationship, and the status quo in general. Among some of the most iconic moments from the film, America Ferrera’s impassioned monologue stands out. 

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Starring in the film as Gloria, a Mattel executive who helps Barbie land back on her feet, the Emmy-winning actor spoke about the double standards women face on a daily basis. The speech, however, took a lot of takes, in fact 30-50 takes. 

America Ferrera shot the scene over two days

In a new interview, America Ferrera revealed that they shot the scene over “two days”. She said, “We shot it over two days. 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 over the course of two days.”

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America Ferrera

Ferrera revealed that she had utmost control over the speech and that Barbie makers, Greta Gerwig and husband co-writer Noah Baumbach, gave her “so much freedom”. The speech even changed shape during filming, when Greta and America added a section where Gloria rails against women always having to appear grateful.

“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.”

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It felt like they filmed 500 takes of the speech

Ferrera said it felt like she filmed 500 takes of the speech over the two days of filming, adding, “It was probably 30 to 50 full runs of it, top to bottom. By the end, [co-star Ariana Greenblatt] recited the monologue to me because she had memorised it because that’s how many times I had said it.”

Barbie is currently playing in theatres worldwide. 

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