In a recent podcast with singer Dua Lipa, Greta Gerwig, the director of the upcoming Barbie film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, said that she had signed up her Oscar-nominated partner Noah Baumbach to co-write the film with her without his knowledge.

Regarding Baumbach’s reaction about when he finally figured out that they will be writing the movie together, Gerwig said, “It was in March of 2020 that Noah said, ‘Are we meant to be writing a ‘Barbie’ movie?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I don’t have any ideas for that! Why didn’t you sign us up to write a different thing?’ And I was like, ‘Because I have a feeling. I like Margot and I have a feeling.’”

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Gerwig also talked about her love for Robbie, whose production company, LuckyChap, bought the rights to make the film. Robbie was the one who approached the Little Women director and said, “‘Would you be interested in writing this?’”, to which Gerwig replied, “And I said, ‘Yes!’ And then I said, ‘And Noah would like to write it too.’ And I had not really talked to Noah about this.”

On the podcast, Gerwig revealed that she had met Robbie for the first time just before she began working on Little Women. The duo had wanted to work on a film together, but it did not come to fruition. “So, I thought, ‘Well, if I ever get the chance to work with her again, I’ll do it,’” said Gerwig.

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Gerwig further recalled that she was unsure at first whether she wanted to direct the film. However, once the story started materialising, the Frances Ha star “really wanted to direct it because I [she] thought it was so great”.

Barbie is set to hit the big screens on July 21, 2022, where it will clash with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.