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From the Liveblog of Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Director originally wanted Gal Gadot to play ‘Barbie’ in upcoming movie

24 May 2023, 4:56 pm Edit

Gal Gadot arrives at the Oscars on at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, February 9, 2020. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Israeli actress Gal Gadot was actually the first choice to play “Barbie” in the upcoming live-action movie due out this summer.

Actress Margot Robbie, who plays the title role, tells Vogue that she and writer-director Greta Gerwig believed Gadot had “Barbie energy.”

“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy. Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don’t hate her for being that beautiful, because she’s so genuinely sincere, and she’s so enthusiastically kind, that it’s almost dorky,” says Robbie, who also serves as a producer on the film. “It’s like right before being a dork.”

Gadot, however, was not available for the role, the magazine reports.