Barge To Accommodate Asylum Seekers Docks In The UK

A vessel that will house up to 500 asylum seekers arrived in the UK on Tuesday after parliament passed its long-debated bill to curb migration.

The barge Bibby Stockholm was pulled by a tug into Portland harbor, off the Dorset coast in south west England, after the government’s controversial legislation overcame resistance in the House of Lords and was passed.

The vessel and the bill are both parts of prime minister Rishi Sunak’s strategy to stop migrants from making risky English Channel crossings in small boats. The legislation will become law after receiving the assent of King Charles III.

The Conservative government has pledged to “stop the boats” – overcrowded dinghies and other small craft that cross from northern France carrying migrants who hope to live in the UK. More than 45,000 people crossed the Channel to Britain in 2022; several died in the attempt.

The bill is intended to deter those journeys and will prevent migrants from claiming asylum in the UK. if they arrive illegally. Under the legislation, those caught will be sent back home or deported to another safe country and banned from ever re-entering the UK.

The government planned to send some of those who arrive without authorisation to Rwanda, but last month the Court of Appeal ruled it was illegal. The government is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Sunak cheered the passage of the bill but said the government must prevail at the higher court for the law to function properly.

“This is an important part of our work to stop the boats. Obviously it needs to be paired with the Rwanda partnership,” said Sunak’s spokesperson, Max Blain. “It’s right that we have this power in place so it can be utilised swiftly and we remain confident we will be successful in the challenge in the Supreme Court.”

The bill was approved after an all-night tussle on Monday between the House of Commons, where the governing Conservatives have a majority, and the unelected House of Lords, which can amend but not block legislation.

Elected MPs defeated amendments that would have included protections for modern slavery and child detention limits.

The United Nations human rights and refugee chiefs said the bill was at odds with Britain’s obligations under international law and will have “profound consequences” for people seeking protection.

The UN warned that the law would even deny protection to children with legitimate claims who are traveling without parents – some of whom might have survived human trafficking.

The Bibby Stockholm is expected to start housing people in two weeks. Its arrival on Tuesday at the port inspired two groups of protesters opposed to it.

Some locals are worried about the impact new arrivals will have on their town. A second group, Stand Up to Racism, said it welcomed refugees but objected to what it calls a “prison barge”.

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‘What Planet Are They On?’: Tory Minister Slammed Over Private School Fees Claim

A Tory minister has been criticised after claiming the cost of sending a child to private school can be the same as a family holiday abroad.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan made the comments as she attacked Labour’s plan to remove the private school sector’s charitable status.

Speaking in the Commons, Keegan said: “Most of our private schools aren’t like Eton or Harrow – they’re far smaller and they charge a lot less.

″Many cost the same as a family holiday abroad and there’s plenty of parents who choose to forego life’s luxuries to give their children these opportunities.”

Shadow education secretary Bridget Philipson pointed out that average private school fees are around £16,000 a year – eight times the average cost of a foreign holiday.

“It’s not just Rishi Sunak that hasn’t got a clue,” she tweeted. “What planet are this lot on?”

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Loose Women’s Coleen Nolan Opens Up About Skin Cancer Diagnosis

Loose Women star Coleen Nolan has opened up about receiving a skin cancer diagnosis.

The daytime TV panellist told viewers of Monday’s show that she underwent treatment for basal cell carcinoma on her shoulder, before being told she has a melanoma on her face.

Coleen – whose sister Bernie died from breast cancer in 2013, before her other sisters Anne and Linda were later diagnosed with the cancer – explained how she had put off getting a red patch of skin on her shoulder checked for a year, explaining that it “wasn’t bothering” her.

It was only when she visited a doctor for a different issue around six months ago that she was told it was a basal cell carcinoma, which the NHS describes as a non-melanoma skin cancer that does not usually spread to other parts of the body.

Coleen has since used topical chemotherapy cream to successfully treat it, which she confirmed means she will not need to have it removed.

“My first instinct, typical me, was to laugh hysterically because I just thought that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard anybody say,” she said of being told the news.

“I’m sick of cancer and I also my first instinct was, I’m not telling anybody in my family because this, that I’ve got at the moment, seems nothing compared to what my sisters have been though.

“And now, what Linda is going through, where it has gone to her brain and she’s having chemo.

“It just seemed so pathetic for some reason to go back and go: ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got a carcinoma’.”

However, Coleen recently had a mark underneath her eye checked out, which doctors confirmed was melanoma skin cancer, which can spread to other areas of the body.

She will now use chemo cream again to treat the area, before a decision is made whether to remove it.

Coleen discussed her diagnosis with Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards and Gloria Hunniford on Loose Women
Coleen discussed her diagnosis with Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards and Gloria Hunniford on Loose Women

S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock

While Coleen said she had “not been ill” with either of her skin cancers, she explained she was speaking about it on Loose Women to raise awareness, having previously done this when participating in The Real Full Monty series.

“The one thing we keep putting out is awareness. It’s all about getting checked out, even if it could be nothing,” she said.

“I thought I need to take a leaf out of my own book.”

Coleen’s sister Linda is was told she had incurable secondary breast cancer in her hip in 2017, four years after Bernie’s death from the disease aged 52.

The cancer later spread to Linda’s liver in 2020, before she was told earlier this year that the cancer had spread to her brain.

The Nolan Family – Maureen, father Tommy, Bernie (back) and Linda, Anne and Coleen
The Nolan Family – Maureen, father Tommy, Bernie (back) and Linda, Anne and Coleen

Manchester Daily Express via Getty Images

The siblings’ sister Anne successfully underwent treatment for stage three breast cancer following her diagnosis in 2020, having previously undergone treatment for the disease 20 years prior.

Coleen shortly after Anne and Linda’s 2020 diagnosis, Coleen said she was considering an elective double mastectomy operation to minimise her own chances of developing the disease.

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV1.

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Gardening Expert Shares The Plant Every New-Build Owner Should Grow

For a nation of people who really seem to enjoy nature, it doesn’t seem like most Brits are getting anything like enough of it. Research from house-builders Redrow found that roughly “One in four (Brits) haven’t seen worms (27%), a butterfly (26%) or snails (24%) in the last month.”

In a way, it makes sense. “9.7 million people were estimated to live in rural areas in England in 2020, compared with 46.9 million people in urban areas,” Government figures from March 2023 show.

It can be hard to find the space to grow a gorgeous green garden in a bustling city – and even if you have a bit of room, new build gardens can feel impossible to sow and grow in.

The shallow, compacted soil can seem hard to work with, and identical fences and smooth, flat lawns can make newer lawns look a little same-y (as well as discouraging all-important biodiversity).

HuffPost spoke to gardening expert Arthur Parkinson about the best plants to grow avoid the “cardboard box” look of new-build gardens. Here’s what he had to say:

Climbers are the secret to making new gardens look established

When most of us think about growing a flourishing garden, our minds automatically go to the ground. But Parkinson shared that when it comes to new builds, it’s important to think vertically, too.

“Just going back to what a new build garden normally is, you’re overshadowed by other housing. And also the worst thing is just that typical cardboard box feeling of fence panels,” the gardening pro told HuffPost.

“So what one thing I would say to anyone when they’re thinking about what the first plants to plant? Always think about dressing the fences, because that’s almost like putting wallpaper around your garden.”

“Things like honeysuckle and climbing hydrangea, things that are very fast to grow” are a great idea for newer backyards, Parkinson stated. “It’s all about making the garden feel established in a shorter time frame as possible,” he said.


Not sure which plant in particular to go with? Parkinson especially recommends sweet-smelling honeysuckle.

“Honeysuckle is one of the best plants for pollinators – moths can smell it from miles away at nighttime,” he said. “It’s very fragrant, so it’s lovely for us as well. And it then gives a berry in the autumn for birds.”

Whatever you do, though, Parkinson recommends you don’t neglect your fences. ”If you don’t dress the fences, no matter what you do, it will always look like a fairly new garden because those fence panels are just there, very bare-looking, like they need to be dressed,” he warns.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) says that honeysuckle is surprisingly easy to grow, provided it has space, additional support from twine, lattices, or trellises, and ideally some dappled shade.

“Climbing honeysuckles can be bought and planted all year round. You’ll get the best results, however, if you plant deciduous ones in winter and evergreens in spring or autumn,” the RHS adds.

Don’t mind me, just off to the garden centre…

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‘Body Doubling’ Could Be The Answer For Serial Procrastinators

What are you putting off right now? For me, it’s sorting out my clothes into a pile to keep and a pile to donate. It’s been months. OK, fine. It’s been a year.

I just can’t bring myself to do it. Now that I’ve admitted mine, you can admit yours (to yourself, don’t worry).

There’s something about these tasks that – for some of us – feels so overwhelming, so impossible, when, in reality, they’d usually take no more than a couple of hours to sort and finally tick off our mental to-do list.

This is why some people are trying the ‘body doubling’ method.

No, it’s not quite the Hollywood version where somebody who looks like you does the hard parts (though this would be ideal).

Instead, it’s when you tackle these somehow mountainous tasks with the help of somebody else. Not by having them do anything for you, but instead just being present while you’re getting through the task.

Why does body doubling work?

Catherine, a civil servant from Scotland, who has ADHD, said that body doubling, even if it’s just done over FaceTime, keeps her accountable without the other person ever actually having to hold her to account.

“It’s almost as if having them there reminds me to do the thing – [they’re] a comforting reminder, and somebody that helps me stay motivated to complete the task,” she says.

Some creators have tapped into this helpful hack by creating “study with me” videos that people have watched whilst getting through their own work.

Even the digital presence of somebody else can remind people to stay on track and keep them motivated.

How to find a body double for productivity support

According to ADDA, the world’s largest organisation dedicated to helping adults with ADHD ‘live better lives’, when looking for a body double you need to “find someone who can be quiet and independent”.

The idea is that they can sit, read, knit, or work quietly on a laptop. Their job is to not engage with you – they’re just there in the background.

“It requires energy to instruct, supervise, or be interrupted by another person, and that expenditure of energy equates to distraction,” says ADDA.

They also add that you can hire outside help if need be, such as an assistant.

However, for some people, a ‘study with me’ video, a loved one on FaceTime or even working from a cafe with others around them is enough to keep them motivated and on-track.

It might actually be time to tackle that task.

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Kemi Badenoch Put On The Spot Over Failure To Sign US-UK Free Trade Deal

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch was put on the spot on Sunday morning over the failure of the government to secure a free trade deal with United States, as had been promised by many Brexiteers.

In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Badenoch was repeatedly pressed on the topic.

“There is no sign of that American trade deal that is promised,” Kuenssberg said.

“That Brexit promise of a sort of buccaneering Britain massively benefiting from trading around the world, that just has not come to pass has it?”

Badenoch said the lack of a trade deal with the US was because of the “change of administration” from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

“We can’t force other countries to do things that are different from what they want to do,” she said.

Kuenssberg pressed: “But that was a promise that was made to British voters.”

Badenoch said: “That was an agreement that was had with the previous president. You cannot force countries to join free trade agreements.”

Kuenssberg added: “So, it was a promise then that you were never going to be able to keep?”

A free trade deal with the US was one of the main selling points for Brexiteers in the run-up to the 2016 referendum.

But Liz Truss finally admitted in September last year – during her short time as prime minister – that it was not going to happen any time soon.

Rishi Sunak also conceded on a trip to Washington in June that an agreement was no longer “a priority” for either side.

Badenoch was speaking to the programme from New Zealand signed the UK up to the the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The trade zone of around 500 million people includes Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Badenoch hailed the agreement as having “so much potential” as “the world is our oyster”.

But the government’s own assessment of the deal suggests it could add only 0.08% to the size of the UK’s economy in 10 years.

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Keir Starmer Says Labour Will Keep The Tory Two-Child Benefits Cap

Keir Starmer has said he would keep the Conservative government’s controversial two-child cap on benefits if Labour win the election.

The announcement is likely to anger many within his own party as the policy has been condemned for “pushing families into deep poverty”.

Under the cap, parents are not able to claim child tax credit or universal credit for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

It was designed to try and force parents of larger families to fin new jobs or work more hours.

The policy was described just last month by Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jon Ashworth as “heinous”.

In February 2020, Starmer said in a tweet he wanted to “scrap” it in order to “tackle the vast social injustice in our country”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, the Labour leader was asked if the cap would be removed.

But Starmer said: “We are not changing that policy.”

Later in the interview he said that “of course” it was worth him angering people on the left of Labour if it was necessary to win the election.

“The Labour Party was created to give working people not just representation in parliament but a government in parliament that can govern on their behalf and change the lives of millions of people for the better,” he said.

“I have been changing the Labour Party to put us in a position where we are now credible contenders for the next election.”

The Child Poverty Action Group (Cpag) has warned the cap is “pushing families into deep poverty”.

According to the charity, it affects 1.5 million children including 1.1 million children growing up in poverty, with their families are missing out on up to £3,235 a year.

“The impact of growing up in poverty can be lifelong,” it warned. “Abolishing the two-child limit is the most cost-effective way of reducing child poverty.

Cpag said scrapping it – at a cost of £1.3bn – would lift 250,000 children out of poverty, and a further 850,000 children would be in less deep poverty.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror on June 3, Ashworth said the cap was “absolutely keeping children in poverty”.

“At this stage we are not outlining our full universal credit reform policy but we are certainly determined to tackle child poverty,” he said.

“We are very, very aware that this is one of the single most heinous elements of the system which is pushing children and families into poverty today.”

During a debate in parliament last week, Labour MP Kim Johnson joined with many Labour MPs to call for Starmer to commit to ditching the cap.

“We need to end this horrendous two-child policy and ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive and grow and not live in poverty,” she said.

“The cap has done immeasurable damage to so many families in this country, impacting poverty and driving more families into poverty.”

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish first minister, said: “Poverty experts say scrapping the two-child limit would lift up to 15,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.

“Why on earth is Starmer committed to keeping this cruel Tory policy? Only the SNP offer real change and the chance to escape Westminster control with independence.”

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Inside Barbie Land: 19 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From The New Barbie Movie

Bringing the most iconic doll in the world to life on the big screen is no small feat – but if the first reactions from critics are anything to go by, it seems like Greta Gerwig has pulled it off with her Barbie movie.

As soon as the first trailer dropped earlier this year, it was clear that Greta, along with star and executive producer Margot Robbie and the rest of the film’s production team, went to painstaking lengths to immerse viewers in Barbie’s plastic fantastic world.

The film features full-size Dream House sets, costumes inspired by famous Barbie looks and even nods to Barbie controversies (like the inclusion of pregnant Midge, a doll who caused outrage upon release) – the attention to detail looks impeccable.

From Greta’s unusual pitch to film executives to the cameos that didn’t happen and Ryan Gosling’s costume brainwave, these behind-the-scenes facts should tide you over until the film arrives on Friday 21 July…

The woman who inspired Barbie’s name has a cameo in the film

Barbie meets her namesake in the new film's trailer
Barbie meets her namesake in the new film’s trailer

Warner Bros

If you’ve watched the Barbie trailer over and over again (guilty!), you might be familiar with one sequence showing Margot’s character meeting an older lady on a park bench, who tells her: “Humans get one ending. Ideas live forever.”

That woman is none other Barbara Handler, who the first ever Barbie was named after. She’s the daughter of Barbie inventor Ruth Handler (who also named Ken after her son, Kenneth).

The production used so much pink paint, they ‘cleaned out’ their suppliers

Barbie Land is a pastel paradise – causing a shortage of pink paint the world over
Barbie Land is a pastel paradise – causing a shortage of pink paint the world over

Warner Bros

Bringing Barbie Land to life required a lot of pink paint. So much, it turns out, that the film industry’s go-to paint suppliers, Rosco, basically had to hand over all their stock.

Lauren Proud, Rosco’s vice president of global marketing, confirmed that the film “used as much paint as we had” in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“There was this shortage, and then we gave them everything we could,” she explained.

This Barbie doesn’t need CGI effects

This shot of Barbie's perpetually-arched feet appeared in the first trailer
This shot of Barbie’s perpetually-arched feet appeared in the first trailer

Warner Bros

Sure, Christopher Nolan may have recreated a nuclear explosion without CGI for Oppenheimer, but Barbie still features some pretty impressive practical effects of its own too.

In one instantly memorable shot from the film’s trailer, we see Barbie step out of her fluffy high heels, only for her feet to remain perfectly arched (just like the doll’s).

Greta decided against using CGI for Barbie’s feet (perhaps she’s still traumatised by the Cats movie). “I thought, ‘Oh god, no! That’s terrifying! That’s a nightmare’,” she told The Project.

The shot eventually took “about eight takes”, according to Margot. “I was holding on to a bar, but that’s it,” she told Fandango. “I wasn’t in a harness or anything. I just walked up and kind of held onto the bar above camera.”

Margot and Greta had to perform a scene for a Mattel exec to win him over

According to TIME magazine, at one point during production, Mattel’s Chief Operating Officer Richard Dickson flew over to London to intervene as he believed that one scene was “off-brand” for Barbie.

“[Dickson] says he took a flight to the London set to argue with Gerwig and Robbie over a particular scene, which he felt was off-brand,” the report says. “But Gerwig and Robbie performed the scene for him and changed his mind.” Who could argue with that?

A chance encounter with a Ken doll persuaded Ryan to take the role

Ryan Gosling at CinemaCon earlier this year
Ryan Gosling at CinemaCon earlier this year

Greg Doherty via Getty Images

After reading the Barbie script, Ryan headed outside to mull things over.

“I walked out in the backyard and you know where I found Ken?” he told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show. “Face down in the mud next to a squished lemon.”

He took a photo of poor downtrodden Ken, and sent it to Greta.

“I shall be your Ken,” he wrote in the message. “For his story must be told.”

He also came up with the idea that Ken would wear his own branded underwear

Ryan Gosling in character as Ken
Ryan Gosling in character as Ken

Warner Bros./Jaap Buitendijk

When the first promotional picture showing Ryan in full Ken get-up, complete with bleach blond hair, landed online last year, fans quickly honed in on one hilarious detail: the fact that Ken’s underwear was specially branded with his name on the waistband.

According to costume designer Jacqueline Durran, the idea came from the actor, who had the brainwave in a late fitting. “We just rushed to make it,” she told Vogue.

The Barbie gang attended ‘movie church’ during filming…

When production was in full swing, Margot’s production company LuckyChap put on weekly film screenings at Notting Hill’s Electric Cinema, a tradition which came to be known as “movie church”.

The films on the line-up included titles that had inspired Greta’s Barbie vision, including the likes of The Wizard Of Oz, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and The Red Shoes.

… had a fancy sleepover in a London hotel…

Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig at Barbie's London premiere
Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig at Barbie’s London premiere

Gareth Cattermole via Getty Images

That wasn’t the only event that the cast got to attend together. Before filming kicked off, Greta hosted a Barbie sleepover at Claridges and invited some of the female cast (the Kens could attend too, but they weren’t allowed to stay the night).

“Honestly, it just felt like it would be the most fun way to kick everything off,” the director told The Guardian. “And it’s something you don’t get to do that much as an adult. Like, ‘I’m just going to go have a sleepover with my friends…’”

… And went on a night out to see Magic Mike Live

In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, Ncuti Gatwa (who plays one of the Kens) described the cast’s trip to Magic Mike Live as “one of the best nights of my life”.

“I don’t know how I made it through any filming in the week after, my voice was gone from screaming so much,” he admitted. “The videos in the group chat the next morning were the best.

“Greta Gerwig’s assistant was pulled up on stage and given a lap dance and Greta was screaming in delight. Afterwards, we went and danced our hearts out. Margot is a very, very good party host. She’s queen of the vibes.”

Margot left a special ‘beach-related’ gift for Ryan every day during filming

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as seen on the poster for Barbie
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as seen on the poster for Barbie

Warner Bros

Not only did Margot help cast and crew get into the Barbie spirit by mandating a “pink day” dress code once a week on set, she also channeled her character by providing her co-star with some extremely on-brand gifts.

“[Margot] left a pink present with a pink bow, from Barbie to Ken, every day while we were filming,” Ryan told Vogue earlier this year. “They were all beach-related. Like puka shells, or a sign that says ‘Pray for surf’. Because Ken’s job is just beach. I’ve never quite figured out what that means. But I felt like she was trying to help Ken understand, through those gifts that she was giving.”

Oh, and Margot took that ‘pink day’ very seriously

Margot had this pink day once a week, where everyone had to wear something pink,” Ryan told People magazine.

“If you didn’t, you were fined. She would go around collecting the fines, and she would donate it to a charity.”

Greta wrote Mattel and Warner Bros executives a ‘surreal’ poem to get them on side

Greta at a Barbie photocall in London
Greta at a Barbie photocall in London

Stuart C. Wilson via Getty Images

As part of her initial pitch, Greta came up with a poem that she has since described as “surreal” in an interview with The Guardian.

So far, she’s kept quiet on the poem’s contents, but she has likened it to religious writings like the Apostle’s Creed, a Christian prayer, and the lament of Job.

“Shockingly, it does actually communicate some of the vibe of the movie,” she said.

Greta really wanted these two long-time collaborators to make a cameo – but the timings didn’t work

Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet appeared in Greta’s first two solo directorial efforts, Lady Bird and Little Women, and the filmmaker had lined up Barbie cameo roles for them too. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out, with Saoirse working on an adaptation of The Outrun and Timothée also being ridiculously in-demand.

Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet looking – it has to be said – not unlike Barbie and Ken at a Little Women photocall
Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet looking – it has to be said – not unlike Barbie and Ken at a Little Women photocall

David M. Benett via Getty Images

“It was always going to have to be like a sort of smaller thing because [Saoirse] was actually producing at the time, which I am so proud of her for,” Greta told CinemaBlend.

“And of course, it’s brilliant. But it was going to be a specialty cameo. I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy.

“Both of them couldn’t do it and I was so annoyed. But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I’m not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom.”

There was another star who didn’t make it into the film either

“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy,” Margot explained.

“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.”

Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot

MICHAEL TRAN via Getty Images

Unfortunately for Margot and Greta, however, Gal wasn’t available at the time of filming either, meaning we never got to see the Wonder Woman star in Barbie Land.

Margot’s connections with Chanel shaped Barbie’s wardrobe

The majority of Margot’s outfits were custom-made by Jacqueline Durran and her team, but “if Margot wears anything that we didn’t make, it’s pretty much Chanel,” the costume designer told Vogue.

Margot has been an ambassador for the French fashion house since 2018, and the company “sent us anything and everything that we wanted”.

Margot didn’t initially think she’d be the one to play Barbie

Barbie’s journey to the big screen has been a long one. First, Amy Schumer was cast in the role, but later left the project when it became clear that it didn’t align with her vision for the film.

She later revealed that an early sign was when the team behind the movie sent her a pair of Manolo Blahniks to celebrate her hiring. “The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal,’” she told The Hollywood Reporter last year.

Amy Schumer was originally supposed to play Barbie
Amy Schumer was originally supposed to play Barbie

NBC via Getty Images

Anne Hathaway then joined the film, but plans fell through.

And even when Margot’s LuckyChap production took the helm, it still wasn’t a given that she would take the lead role, eventually being announced in July 2019, two years before Greta signed on to direct.

The Barbie dreamhouse sets play with scale to make the actors appear more doll-like

In Barbie Land, all the proportions are deliberately a little bit off.

Set decorator Katie Spencer told Architectural Digest that they adjusted the dreamhouse rooms to be 23% smaller than the usual human size. So, for example, the ceilings were “quite close to one’s head”, as Greta put it, “and it only takes a few paces to cross the room”, as would be the case in an actual Barbie house.

The overall effect was to make the actors “seem big in the space but small overall”.

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Pictures, Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, Directed by Greta Gerwig.\r\n\r\nDirector: Jasia Kaulbach\r\nSenior Producer: Vara Reese\r\nDirector of Creative Development: Morgan Crossley\r\nLine Producer: Joe Buscemi\r\nAssociate Producer: Josh Crowe\r\nProduction Manager: Melissa Heber\r\nProduction Coordinator: Fernando Davila\r\nPost Production Supervisor: Andrew Montague\r\nPost Production Coordinator: Holly Frew\r\nSupervising Editor: Christina Mankellow\r\nGraphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin \r\nGraphics, Animation, VFX: Brady Jackson, Léa Kichler\r\n\r\nShot and edited by Mob Scene: @mobsceneagency\r\n\n\nWant even more AD? 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There’s no writing in the Barbie Land sets

You won’t see any proper writing in Barbie Land – instead, the Barbies communicate through scribbles, Margot explained.

“There’s no actual writing in Barbie Land,” she told Architectural Digest. “It’s just scribbled the way kids kind of write endless amounts of, you know, nothing. But it’s all very beautiful.”

Playing Ken helped Ryan ‘make peace’ with his Disney Channel days

Before Ryan was an Oscar-nominated movie star, he was an all-singing, all-dancing member of The Mickey Mouse Club (you’ve almost certainly seen the video clips of his fancy footwork). He thought he’d turned his back on his Mouseketeer past, but playing Ken helped him reconnect with his inner child star.

“At a certain point I thought I had left that kid behind, and I realized that I needed his help to make this movie,” he told EW. “So I had to go back and make peace with him and ask for his help. It was good for me.” We’re certain that his Disney past came in useful when he was filming his epic musical number, “I’m Just Ken”.

Barbie arrives in UK cinemas on Friday 21 July. Watch the trailer below:

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The film’s producers are Oscar nominee David Heyman (“Marriage Story,” “Gravity”), Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.\n\nGerwig’s creative team behind the camera included Oscar-nominated director of photography Rodrigo Prieto (“The Irishman,” “Silence,” “Brokeback Mountain”), six-time Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Anna Karenina”), editor Nick Houy (“Little Women,” “Lady Bird”), Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“Little Women,” “Anna Karenina”), visual effects supervisor Glen Pratt (“Paddington 2,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and music supervisor George Drakoulias (“White Noise,” “Marriage Story”), with music by Oscar winners Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“A Star Is Born”).\n\nWarner Bros. 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