Greta Gerwig and Sylvester Stallone.Photo:Karwai Tang/WireImage; Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Karwai Tang/WireImage; Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Greta Gerwighas namedSylvester Stalloneas the surprising inspiration behind Ken in theBarbiemovie.
Speaking on a panel after a special screening ofBarbieat the Directors Guild of America Theater in West Hollywood on Friday, the director and writer, 40, revealed thatRyan Gosling’s portrayal of Ken in the hit film was based on Stallone, 77, after she and Gosling bonded over their love for the action star.
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Stallone inspired the look for Ken in the ‘Barbie’ movie, director Gerwig says.Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images
Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty Images
Stallone famously rocked a fur coat in what became one of his defining looks in the 1970s and 1980s. It also became a signature look for Ken after taking over Barbieland in theBarbiefilm.
Aside from Ken’s style, Gerwig said that Stallone inspired the character’s journey in the film on the panel.
“When I think of adorned men, I think he’s probably the best one,” she continued. “And I feel like Ken was nothing if not a man in search of adornment. So that was a really key moment where we were like, it is, it’s Sly. And we talked about specific moments we really loved in his films.”
It’s unclear whether Stallone knew all that when he was the film. But Gerwig did say on the panel that he got in contact with her afterwards. “He was into it, which I was very honored,” she said.
“Something that Mark and I talked about right away was my love of disco. And he contributed to the really wonderful documentary about the Bee Gees which I really loved,” Gerwig explained. “And I thought about obviouslySaturday Night Fever, but alsoXanaduwhich is such a wonderful campy thing. And also,Grease, which is a disco musical, but it’s about the 1950s and it has this kind of quality of taking place in no time, but every time.”
“And I thought that sort of was kind of the essence of what I wanted to go for,” the director said.
Speaking on adding disco artist Lipa, 28, to theBarbiesoundtrack, Gerwig added, “There’s no one who more encapsulates that spirit of sharp, brilliant disco. And I was like, is this possible? Let’s do this.”
source: people.com
