America Ferrera is set to join Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Barbie movie from Warner Bros., Mattel, and Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment.
Ferrera is known for her award-winning small screen projects like Ugly Betty and Real Women Have Curves. She also made her debut as a producer in the NBC comedy Superstore, which she starred in five of its six seasons, and Netflix’s Gentefied. She also directed multiple episodes of each show. Ferrera also lent her voice for Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
Robbie will play the iconic titular doll opposite Gosling as her beau Ken. Ferrera’s part in the film is still unknown, along with the plot, which has been held under wraps since its announcement.
Greta Gerwig (Little Women, Lady Bird) will direct and co-write the script with longtime collaborator Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story).
Mattel has been pushing for a big-screen adaptation for their doll for some time. But the stars aligned when Robbie, Gerwig, and Baumbach boarded the project in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Barbie is set to start production early this year in London with a predicted 2023 release.
Ferrera will also make her feature directorial debut in I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel by author Erika Sánchez. Her most recent project will be the limited series “We Crashed,” which will star Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto. The series will debut in March on Apple TV plus.