Kingsley Ben-Adir is just as excited as the fans to see Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” finally hit the big screen.
As he caught up with Variety at Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” premiere in Hollywood on Tuesday night, Ben-Adir recalled seeing Ryan Gosling and the rest of the Ken dolls for the first time in full costume.
“We all looked like absolute losers in a funny way,” he shared, adding, “It was hilarious.”
He went on to say that joining the film was a no-brainer after reading Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script. “From the first page, I was like, ‘Wow, this is really, really funny!’” Ben-Adir said. “I just heard such great things about Ryan and Margot. Then me and Greta went out for some whiskey. We spoke for two or three hours. There was a really strong sense from early on like she was trying to do something a little bit different.
“It’s very rare that a script like that comes along. So I was like, ‘Whatever, whoever is in it, I just want to be on set with those guys and I want to be a part of it,’” he added.
“Barbie” hits theaters on July 21. But first comes “Secret Invasion,” which debuts on Disney+ June 21. The Marvel Cinematic Universe series follows Nick Fury and his allies, Everett Ross, Maria Hill and the Skrull Talos, who has made a life for himself on Earth. When the team learns of a clandestine invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls, they race against time to thwart the imminent Skrull invasion and save humanity.
In addition to Ben-Adir, the cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, Emilia Clarke, Martin Freeman, Charlayne Woodard, Killian Scott, Samuel Adewunmi, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher McDonald and Katie Finneran.
“It was a lot of fun,” Ben-Adir said about the series. “I came on really early, like when it was just Sam and Ben and no directors or anything. A lot of our conversations were about the story and how they wanted to do something different. They wanted to create something a bit more grounded and darker and perhaps a little bit more adult. It really appealed to me.”
