Randall Park Says Hollywood Is "Taking Wrong Lessons" From 'Barbie'

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published 16 August 2023

The Barbie movie has been the absolute breakout hit of the year and far beyond, smashing box office records left and right.

Since the Greta Gerwig-directed movie has made so much money, it makes sense from a business perspective that Hollywood execs would be looking to recreate that level of success from subsequent projects, but Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Randall Park is worried they're going about it the wrong way—as he revealed in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

"Asians folks have some of the worst representation in Hollywood by the numbers, and it’s never made sense to me because studios are courting the Asian box office, which is almost as big as the North American box office," the interviewer, Marlow Stern, told Park. "But it feels like Asians aren’t really allowed to complain about that because of the whole 'model minority' thing."

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Park agreed, telling Stern, "Totally. I feel like, just in general, this industry is taking the wrong lessons. For example, Barbie is this massive blockbuster, and the idea is: Make more movies about toys! No. Make more movies by and about women!"

Marlow added that the film's success was most attributable to its talented director, and to Margot Robbie as its star and producer.

"Exactly! Think like that. It’s Greta Gerwig!" Park enthused.

Park has just released his directorial debut, Shortcomings, which is currently in theaters, and is also set to feature in the upcoming movies The Marvels, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Barbie had made $1.18 billion at the box office as of Aug. 13. Let's hope we get more movies by female directors going forward, then! It's just good sense.

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.