Known for her roles in Transparent and And Just Like That, Hari talks about the way Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece impacted her
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY WARNER BROS
If you couldn’t tell, we are excited about Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated Barbie film. And after seeing a teaser clip with Hari Nef as a Barbie doctor, we cannot wait for 21 July to come around.
In an interview with Out Magazine, Hari revealed how she felt empowered working on the Barbie film as a trans woman.
“I think as a trans girl, it’s easy to get caught up in big dreams of what you’ll become,” she explained. “And it’s inevitable that you’ll get struck down by external messages and obstacles of what you’ll never be and what you won’t be able to do.”
“You’re caught constantly between striving for perfection and recoiling from rejection,” she continued. “It’s hard. As much as there’s a celebration of femininity and being a girl in this [movie], I think there’s also an encouragement of letting go of the checklist we ascribe to living and living your life and being in your body your way, on your own terms.”
At the beginning of the interview, Hari reveals that as a child she was obsessed with the game Barbie’s Magic Hair Styler. “I felt like through Barbie I could explore all kinds of people to be and things to do,” she explained.
Her childhood dreams came true when she stepped on the Barbie set and was sucked into a world of pink, glamour, and extravagantly choreographed dances. “I’ve joked before, it really did feel like Greta Gerwig’s Drag Race,” she said. “Because I was doing acting, dancing, comedy, and the whole time I was cinched, wigged, painted from head to toe, padded, heels.”
“It’s a very specific kind of femininity,” she told Out. “It’s not a kind of femininity that I live every single day of my life in, but it’s one that I come back to time and time again. It’s also one that I feel very comfortable wearing in public, and when the cameras are on and when people are watching.”
Hari commented on how she was happy that she hadn’t simply been cast as a “Trans Barbie”, and mused on the future for trans actors in the industry.
“I’m excited to tell stories about trans people that aren’t merely redemptive, that aren’t rooted in transition or discovery,” she said. “I’m excited for trans assholes on-screen. I’m excited for trans antiheroes on-screen. I’m excited for trans scammers on-screen. I’m excited for trans sex on screen. I’m excited for trans nudity on-screen.”
The Barbie film comes out on 21 July, and you know that we’ll be first in line to secure a ticket.
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