Gal Gadot Was ‘Touched’ to Learn She Was Margot Robbie’s First Choice to Play Barbie: ‘She Warmed My Heart’

“Barbie” has blossomed into one of the biggest hits of Margot Robbie’s career, giving the Australian actress her first billion dollar box office haul and early buzz for a third Oscar nomination. The film has become so omnipresent in pop culture that it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Robbie playing Stereotypical Barbie — but Robbie wasn’t always convinced that she was right for the role.

The “Babylon” star was only attached to “Barbie” as a producer in the project’s early stages (she has been credited with convincing Greta Gerwig to write and direct the film). And in a May interview with Vogue prior to the film’s release, Robbie revealed that she was originally interested in casting Gal Gadot as the iconic doll.

“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy,” Robbie said. “Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don’t hate her for being that beautiful because she’s so genuinely sincere, and she’s so enthusiastically kind, that it’s almost dorky. It’s like right before being a dork.”

While Gadot did not appear in “Barbie,” she supported the film by attending the premiere in July. And in a new interview with Flaunt magazine, the Israeli actress revealed that the admiration between her and Robbie is mutual. Gadot praised Robbie’s talents as both an actress and a producer and revealed that she was flattered to learn she was once a contender to play Barbie.

“I adore Margot,” Gadot said. “Margot is one of those women who you just want to be friends with. She is so funny, warm, fun and smart and obviously so talented. She brings so much to the table. I would love to do anything with Margot and was very touched [by her comments]. She warmed my heart with everything that she said about me. I’m super excited for them, and I’m so excited for ‘Barbie.’”