Mumbai, Jul 14 (IANS):  Filmmaker Greta Gerwig says the upcoming film 'Barbie' came to her through actress Margot Robbie as she had gotten the rights and spearheaded the whole project.

Talking about getting Margot Robbie as a producer and as Barbie, Greta said: "Barbie came to me through Margot Robbie. Margot was the one who had gotten the rights, had brought it to Warner Bros., had sort of spearheaded this whole project, and we had met, and I was a big fan of hers as an actress."

"But then when we talked, I realised what an incredible producer she was. She was super smart and extremely involved and really interesting."

Gerwig added: "Margot is our Stereotypical Barbie, as she says in the film, 'I'm the Barbie everyone thinks of when you think of Barbie.' And when you think of the most beautiful, cheerful, friendly, blonde lady you've ever seen, that's Margot."

"But the thing I wanted to do most of all was to allow her to be outrageously funny. She's the person you're going to go on a real journey with in the movie and because she's always able to make things grounded, relatable, and very emotional even when it's ridiculously heightened and funny, you never feel like you lose the humanity."

On getting Ryan Gosling as Ken, she said: "We wrote this part specifically for Ryan Gosling. Even though he's so wonderful in dramatic roles, I knew he was really funny as I had watched all his 'Saturday Night Live' appearances. There was no plan B. It was always Ryan."

Also starring America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae and Will Ferrell alongside Margot and Ryan, Barbie is set to release in India on July 21.