Barbie star Simu Liu has recently explained what makes Barbieland so “fun and enticing”.
Speaking to E! News, Simu, who plays Ken 2, said, “What I love about this movie is that there's lots of Barbies and lots of Kens.”
“I think that's been the evolution of the Barbie brand over the years,” remarked the actor.
Simu also noted that the first Barbie, which was released in 1959, was “innovative and disruptive” at the time where young girls only had infant dolls to play with.
“Barbie for the first time was like, ‘Actually, you can play with a future version of yourself where you can aspire and hope to dream to be anyone that you want,’” stated the 34-year-old.
Simu noted, “At that time, you had to be blonde, but you could be a lawyer, you could be a doctor, you could be president of the United States.”
However, the actor continued, “Thankfully, it has evolved to be more inclusive, to be more diverse, to accommodate differently-abled people, all sorts of body types and ethnicities and colours and gender expressions.”
Simu mentioned that the message of “inclusivity” was adopted by director Greta Gerwig, saying, “It was just the mentality of working out that Greta really wanted us to get into the habit of.”
“Greta was very clear Kens don't have to look a certain way to be Ken, they just have to be the best version of themselves, whatever that meant for each of us individually, that's what it was,” disclosed Simu.
The actor pointed out that part of what makes Barbieland “so fun and enticing” is that it’s a “place where judgement doesn’t really exist” and people are “free to express themselves” and be whoever they want.
“That's really beautiful,” he concluded.