Hari Nef, a transgender actress, model, and writer, plays one of the Barbies in Greta Gerwig’sBarbie, and she was so excited about the part, she even developed a backstory for her character.The cast ofBarbieincludes some popular names, all willing to appear in Margot Robbie and Gerwig’s massive hit fantasy comedy for just a few minutes of screentime. That’s how powerful the aura of the Mattel doll is and just how ubiquitous the branding is. Just the chance to be known as “something” Barbie or “something” Ken was enough to make folks run to set.
Among those selected for the coveted roles of the Barbies in Barbieland was Hari Nef, a Philadelphia-born actress who most fans may know from either her debut in the comedy-dramaTransparentas Gittel, or for her more recent role inthe cast ofThe Idolas Talia, aVanity Fairwriter.Nef has quickly been gaining steam as an actress in the 2020sthanks to one-episode appearances inAnd Just Like That…andThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but it seems earning her role inBarbiehas been the biggest personal coup of her career thus far.
Hari Nef Plays Doctor Barbie In Barbie
Doctor Barbie Is The Only Medical Barbie In Barbieland
Hari Nef appears inBarbieas Doctor Barbie, one of the many Barbies who live in Barbieland. Just like there area bunch of different Kens inBarbie, so too are there many different Barbies, with each Barbie representing either a career, personality type, or even just a fashion style. Doctor Barbie is, as you would guess, a doctor. She’s a close friend of Stereotypical Barbie (Robbie) and the only doctor in Barbieland. When Barbie reveals to her friend that she has flat feet,Doctor Barbie memorably screams, “Flat feet!”, one of themore quotable lines fromBarbie.
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Doctor Barbie also cheerily explains who Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) is, happily admitting that everyone calls her Weird to her face and behind her back. Later, when Barbie returns from the real world, she sees that Ken (Ryan Gosling) has brought back the patriarchal attitudes he learned there. Doctor Barbie is now wearing a maid’s outfit, serving beer to the other Kens due to Ken’s decrees. Fortunately, Barbie and Weird Barbie are able to return Doctor Barbie to her usual self by reminding her of all her accomplishments.
Nef Invented A Whole, Detailed Backstory For Her Character
Doctor Barbie Belongs To An Older Gay Gentleman Living In New York City
Doctor Barbie actually has a few more lines than some of the other Barbies inBarbie, but we still don’t get to learn all that much more about her. Thankfully,Hari Nef has provided what she believes to be her Barbie’s backstory. Each Barbie has a person in the real world who plays with and cares for them, those real-world choices manifesting in Barbieland. It can be as simple as choosing what a Barbie wears, or more seriously, disregarding and disrespecting their Barbie. Nef has an idea about who her owner is (viaVogue),
“A doll collector. A gay man in his 50s who lives in a rent-controlled apartment in the West Village. I was given the most over-the-top, fashion-y, crazy costumes. And I was like, This is no child’s doll. I feel like every week he has his two or three friends over, maybe he’s a little lonely, and he shows them my new outfit. And I just kind of stay in my box.”
This is a very hyper-specific character note. The West Village is located in the western portion of Lower Manhattan and is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. It’s also a center of Bohemian and LGBTQ+ culture. It’s exactly where a gay, well-off single man would live, and he could easily have a Barbie doll, for display purposes only. It’s a hilarious detail and one that could make for a fun spin-off movie. There’s so much to explore in theBarbieuniverse, and the non-little-girl owners of the dolls are a big part of that.
Doctor Barbie Is A Pioneering Character In Film
Hari Nef’s Character Is Not Defined By Her Gender Identity
Doctor Barbie, besides being funny and fitting perfectly withinBarbie’s aesthetic, is also a pioneering character in film.There is no mention of Doctor Barbie or Hari Nef being a trans womanat all in the film. She’s just a Barbie, like all the other Barbies in the movie. The best trans,non-binary, and gender-nonconforming characters in televisionand movies are the ones that don’t make their gender or sexual identity key parts of their characters. There’s no reference to Doctor Barbie as the “Transgender Barbie”; she’s just the same as everyone else. A wise and inclusive decision from Gerwig.
Hari Nef Wrote A Letter To Gerwig After Being Cast, Asking Her To Move Her Shooting Schedule
Nef And Her Friends Often Refer To Themselves As “Dolls”
Hari Nef was beside herself after receiving word that she had been cast inBarbie. At the time, her film credits only included a small role inMeet Cuteand a larger role in the underseen1Up. Her TV credits were a bit more impressive withAnd Just Like That…,The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, andRoom 104.Barbierepresented a massive step-up for the young actress, and she was not going to let the opportunity get away. When she was cast, Nef realized that a scheduling conflict was going to cause trouble for her participation inBarbie.
She wrote a letter toGerwigandRobbie, essentially begging them to shift the shoot schedule for her character, part of which she shared onX,
“This is a big movie, made by a team whose work has played no small role in cultivating my love of sitting in the dark in front of big screens for an hour or two. But that’s just a part of why I want–my heart says “need”–to join in the making of this film. Identity politics and cinema aren’t my favorite combination, but the name BARBIE looms large over every American woman. Barbie’s the standard; she’s The Girl; she’s certainly THE doll.”
Barbie had left a big imprint on Nef, and as an American woman, Nef was acutely aware of how large the figure loomed in her and other women’s lives. She went on,
“Me and my girlfriends–okay, yeah, me and my other transgender girlfriends– we started calling ourselves “the dolls” a couple of years ago, though the phrase stretches back into the language of our foremothers in the ballroom scene.”
The term “dolls” could be seen as derogatory in the wrong context, just as some of the lines of dialogue inBarbiecould be considered offensive if taken out of context. Nef’s words about understanding the nuances of titles and stereotypes show just how well attuned she is to a movie likeBarbie. She finished this portion of her letter with,
“‘The Dolls.’ Maybe it’s a bid to ratify our femininity, to smile and sneer at the standards we’re held to as women. It’s a joke, of course; we throw our voices: ‘the do-o-lls!’ But underneath the word ‘doll’ is the shape of a woman who is not quite a woman–recognizable as such, but still a fake. ‘Doll’ is fraught, glamorous; she is, and she isn’t. We call ourselves ‘the dolls’ in the face of everything we know we are, never will be, hope to be. We yell the word because the word matters. And no doll matters more than Barbie.”
The term doll isn’t used that frequently inBarbie, but the film is filled with connotations of the word, in all its meanings.Nef clearly had a grip on the tone and sensibility ofBarbie, even before it was made. It’s a good thing the schedule issues were worked out, because even Nef’s limited screen time adds a lot to the film.
What’s Next For Hari Nef
Nef Is Set To Star In A Candy Darling Biopic
Nef is set to star in an untitled Candy Darling biopic as the titular transgender actress and Warhol superstar. The film is set to be directed by Zackary Drucker, and John Cameron Mitchell will executive produce (viaVariety). Nef is the only cast member announced currently. The film will trace Candy’s early life on Long Island to her introduction to Andy Warhol and her influence on the music and pop culture scene of New York City at the time. A role like Hari Nef’s inBarbieis the kind that opens up even greater roles, like playing Candy Darling.
