Gal Gadot was first choice to play Barbie, but wasn’t available

Gal Gadot was offered the role of Barbie in the upcoming movie starring Margot Robbie as a real-life version of the legendary blonde doll, Vogue magazine reported Wednesday, adding that Gadot’s schedule had been too packed.

Robbie, who produced the movie, told the publication that the dark-haired Israeli actress of Wonder Woman fame was her first choice, because she has “Barbie energy.”

Director Greta Gerwig also felt that Gadot was the right choice, she said.

“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy,” Robbie said. “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. It’s like right before being a dork.”

Gadot was not available at the time so Robbie took on the role herself.

Barbie is scheduled to be released in July.

Gadot portrayed Wonder Woman in the 2017 superhero movie and in 2020’s “Wonder Woman 1984.” At the end of that year, Warner Bros. announced that it would fast-track a third “Wonder Woman” film starring Gadot.

But in December 2022, news broke that the studio was axing the third installment amid a shakeup in its approach to its DC Comics universe. The news was reported in both Variety and Deadline, two publications with close industry ties.