Barbie cast: All actors and characters
Warner Bros.Barbie was one of the biggest movies of 2023, and it’s a movie absolutely stacked with incredibly talented, beautiful actors. Here’s all the members of the Barbie cast you need to know.
Wrapped in plastic, she’s fantastic, and her movie is rather fantastic, too. A live-action Barbie movie should never have worked, but somehow, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie produced something incredibly entertaining and surprisingly profound.
Barbie movies have always been pretty successful, but Gerwig’s effort was off the charts. And, a lot of that is down to the great cast she assembled for the project.
So, whether you’re planning to watch Barbie for the first time, or the hundredth time, you’re going to need to get to know the Barbie cast and figure out where you’ve seen them before.
Contents
- Margot Robbie as Barbie
- Ryan Gosling as Ken
- America Ferrera as Gloria
- Ariana Greenblatt as Sasha
- Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie
- Issa Rae as President Barbie
- Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie
- Hari Nef as Dr. Barbie
- Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie
- Kingsley Ben-Adir as Ken
- Ncuti Gatwa as Ken
- Simu Liu as Ken
- Michael Cera as Allan
- Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel
- Connor Swindells as Aaron Dinkins, a Mattel intern
- Everyone else in the Barbie cast
The Barbie movie cast and characters
Here’s a list of all the Barbies, Kens, and humans that make up the Barbie cast, and a bit of information as to what they’ve worked on previously.
Margot Robbie as Barbie
This is “Stereotypical Barbie” who lives a perfect life in Barbieland until things start being… not so perfect. Kind, if a little naïve, Barbie goes through a major journey of self-discovery in this movie as she ventures into the real world.
Barbie is played by Margot Robbie, who has become a major player in Hollywood. She’s appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street, I, Tonya, Bombshell, and played Harley Quinn in the DCEU.
Ryan Gosling as Ken
She’s everything. He’s just Ken. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a great character with great Kenergy. Ken is essentially a himbo for most of the movie, until the real world begins having an effect on his view of the way men and women are “supposed” to act.
Ryan Gosling plays the doll, and while he’s known for more “serious” movies, like Drive, La La Land, and Blade Runner 2049, he’s also in fun comedies such as Crazy, Stupid, Love and The Nice Guys. Now, if we can just get him a Ken spinoff movie, that’d be great. Seriously, after his rendition of I’m Just Ken from the Barbie soundtrack, we’re going to need more music from Gosling.
America Ferrera as Gloria
Gloria is the key human character in this story, who grows a close relationship with Barbie as she helps her save Barbieland. She represents the way women grow up believing they can do anything, only to be beaten down by life, and she clings to Barbie to deal with her own problems.
Gloria is played by America Ferrera, best known for her role in Ugly Betty. She was also in The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Superstore, and voices Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon.
Ariana Greenblatt as Sasha
Sasha is Gloria’s sardonic teenage daughter, who joins the journey to Barbieland. She represents the disconnect young girls may have with Barbie, as the question of whether or not Barbie is a modern feminist icon only becomes more and more confused.
Ariana Greenblatt is the actor for Sasha, and has appeared in 65, Love and Monsters, and Awake.
Kate McKinnon as Weird Barbie
Weird Barbie is a product of being played with too hard. But despite being shunned by Barbie society, she helps defunct Barbies get back on their feet. This includes urging Barbie to head to the real world to find out the truth she needs to hear.
Kate McKinnon plays the role, and she certainly has the comedic chops for it, having been a major SNL player. She’s also starred in Bombshell and Ghostbusters.
Issa Rae as President Barbie
President Barbie is… you guessed it, the President of Barbieland. She’s a little tougher than the other Barbies, as her job requires a more straight-forward attitude. However, she still oversees Barbieland with care and thought.
President Barbie is played by Issa Rae, known for her show Insecure, along with The Hair Tales, Black Girls Rock, American Fiction, and Hair Love. She also voiced Jessica Drew in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cast.
Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, and Hari Nef as Physicist Barbie, Writer Barbie, and Dr. Barbie
Each Barbie excels in her own field, and reflect the many careers that Barbie dolls can have. When they’re not working, they all live in harmony with the other Barbies and Kens. That is, until things start going very wrong.
These three Barbies sit just outside the key members of the cast, but that doesn’t mean the actors playing them are any less special. Physicist Barbie is played by Emma Mackey, who you’ll know from the Sex Education cast. Alexandra Shipp plays Writer Barbie, and she’s previously appeared in Tick Tick Boom and played Storm in X-Men Apocalypse. And then there’s Hari Nef, who played Dr. Barbie—you’ll have seen Nef in episodes of You and The Idol.
Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa as Ken
Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Ken is the right-hand Ken for Gosling’s version of the character, fighting on his side whenever Ken battles start getting a little too rough. Ncuti Gatwa’s Ken is also on Ken’s team, and manages to be Ken with both style and flair.
Kinglsey Ben-Adir appeared in Marvel’s Secret Invasion and starred in One Love, one of the best movies of the year. Gatwa is the new Doctor and will lead the way in Doctor Who Season 14. He also had a starring role in Sex Education.
Simu Liu as Ken
While most of the Barbie and Kens get along, this Ken is somewhat of an antagonist to Gosling’s Ken. The two often threaten to “beach each other off,” and their rivalry even results in violence. Though, this is all done because they secretly envy how cool one another is.
This Ken is played by Simu Liu, who’s biggest role so far is the titular character of Marvel’s Shang-Chi, of which we’re waiting on the sequel. He was also in comedy series Kim’s Convenience.
Michael Cera as Allan
Allan is Ken’s buddy, with no other versions of him—just like the actual doll version. He is a bit of an oddball, but his individual quirkiness actually comes in handy as the movie progresses, since he doesn’t really fit in with the Barbies or Kens.
Allan in played by Michael Cera, who has starred in brilliant comedy movies like Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Juno, and Superbad.
Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel
As the CEO of toy company Mattel, this character is determined to wrangle (or rather, box) Barbie in once he discovers that she’s entered the real world. He also runs an all male boardroom, despite making a product for young girls.
The CEO is played by Will Ferrell, known for his comedic stints in Step Brothers, Anchorman, and Elf. Considering that Elf and Barbie have similar plot points, his casting makes sense.
Connor Swindells as Aaron Dinkins, a Mattel intern
Aaron is the overworked and undervalued intern of the Mattel Company, tasked with helping the head boardroom track Barbie down. He’s well-intentioned, but a little clueless, which causes him to butt heads with the company’s CEO.
Aaron is played by Connor Swindells, yet another Sex Education alumni.
Dua Lipa and John Cena as Mermaid Barbie and Ken
They don’t get much screen time, but mermaids are just as important as any other doll. Musician Dua Lipa cameos as the Mermaid Barbie, while wrestler-turned-actor John Cena plays the Mermaid Ken. Fun fact, Cena almost turned down his part in the Barbie cast, but he decided it’d be fun and went ahead with it despite his agents opposition.
Dua Lipa recently starred in Argylle, as her acting credits begin to rack up. Meanwhile, Cena has appeared in comedies like Ricky Stanicky, the Fast and Furious franchise, and plays the titular role in Peacemaker.
Everyone else in the Barbie cast
Now, the Barbie cast is pretty humongous, so while everyone is fantastic, some get featured slightly more than others. So here’s everyone else in the cast that we didn’t mention above:
- Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie
- Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie
- Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie
- Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie
- Emerald Fennell as Midge
- Scott Evans as Ken
- Helen Mirren as the narrator
- Rhea Perlman as Ruth Handler, the inventor of Barbie
- Jamie Demetriou as a Mattel employee
- Ann Roth as an old woman who meets Barbie
Who was in the Barbie cast before Margot Robbie?
Believe it or not, Margot Robbie was not the first choice to play Barbie. Comedian Amy Schumer was attached to the role previously, while Anne Hathaway and Gal Gadot were also eyed for the part before Robbie signed on.
Schumer was in line to lead the Barbie cast way back in 2017, but had to leave the project due to scheduling conflicts. Hathaway then took on the role, with her movie due for release in 2018, but that fell through.
When Robbie took on the project as producer, she never considered herself for the lead role. In fact, she wanted Wonder Woman herself to become the iconic doll, but scheduling conflicts got in the way there too. Eventually, Robbie took the part, Greta Gerwig signed on to direct, and the rest, as they say, is history.
America Ferrera’s husband is in the Barbie cast
America Ferrera’s character, Gloria, has a husband in the movie that we meet briefly, and it turns out the man playing him, Ryan Piers Williams, is Ferrera’s real life husband, too.
Williams is a writer by trade, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to appear alongside his wife for this little cameo.
You can watch all these actors doing their thing in the Barbie movie on Max, right now.
That’s all we’ve got on the Barbie cast. If you need more from Barbieland, check out our Barbie review, our our guide to all the Barbie Easter eggs in the movie. You may also be keen to see what’s going on with Barbie 2 and find out what the Barbie ending really means.
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