Greta Gerwig disclosed that she chose to do her hidden field analysis during the “Barbie” film’s opening weekend in July by standing in the back of the theater during screenings of the film to witness the audience’s response firsthand.
“I went around to different theaters and sort of stood in the back, and would then also turn up the volume if I felt it wasn’t playing at the perfect level,” she recounted during a screen talk at the BFI London Film Festival on Sunday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The director said at one of those sneaking screenings, she listened to a woman cracking up over an especially zingy one-liner about the Proust Barbie. “And I was like, ‘That joke was for you!’ ” Gerwig told the festival audience.
Greta Gerwig also shared that the movie was “the most joyful” experience she’s ever had on a set.
“So, I thought, if I can make a movie that is half as fun to watch as it was to make, I think maybe we’ve got a shot,” she said.
Gerwig also acknowledged that she sometimes dealt with self-doubt regarding the script and some of her imaginative choices, including the much-loved “I’m Just Ken” dance scene, which depicts the multiple Kens fighting.
She recalled, “That sequence, in particular, was just filled with choices that thrilled me and made me so happy, but then I’d be driving home at the end of the day and thinking, ‘Oh no!’.”
While she continues to tell Barbie’s history-making success, Gerwig is also shifting her attention to new innovative ambitions. She teased that she is working on something new right now, but didn’t provide any details.
At the festival, she said, “I’m in the writing process,” adding that she is still tussling with self-doubt. “It’s hard because I’m having recurring nightmares.”
