The crew filming the mega-budget movie Barbie has been accused of covertly using homeless people to create a “diverse” background atmosphere for a park scene — and not paying them.
The destitute bank dwellers were even discussed in on-set radio chat about exactly where they were in regards to filming and confirming they were on screen, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Meanwhile, extras were paid to dress up as homeless people to amp up the scene, shot in Tongva Park across from California’s Santa Monica City Hall, which is notorious for its vagrancy problems.
Millions of parents are expected to take their kids to Barbie after its July 21 release and amid an anticipated $1 billion box office bonanza.
Homeless people can be seen in the background of the upcoming Barbie movie, but were not paid, DailyMail.com can reveal. Stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are filming
Homeless people sitting on benches were discussed in radio chat on set about where exactly they were in regards to filming and confirming they were in the picture, DailyMail.com can reveal
DailyMail.com saw production filming in Tongva Park across from California’s Santa Monica City Hall, which is notorious for its vagrancy problems
Two stunt doubles for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling can be seen during filming
“Normally, movie production units pay between $300 and $1,500 to individuals — street vendors or homeless people,” a source told DailyMail.com. Margot Robbie is pictured on set
Directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie stars as a super-strident version of the iconic puppet starring Ryan Gosling as the stuffed and ineffectual Ken.
But despite the $100 million budget and projected revenue, it seems there wasn’t even spare change for the impromptu extras.
“I’ve never seen anyone on the crew go to the real homeless and offer them money,” a seasoned photographer who has been filming for 15 years told DailyMail.com.
“There were twenty at a time. Some were moved by the production people, but others were left alone. So the remaining ones moved in and out a little bit, walked around, sat around, did something.”
The photographer, who has a scanner to listen to radio chatter while working, continued: ‘The real homeless people were there all day, the whole shot which was a few weeks ago.
“I heard someone in the crew ask, ‘Is this person in the scene?'” and someone would answer, “Yeah, but they’re in the far background.”
“Normally, movie production units pay between $300 and $1,500 to individuals — street vendors or homeless people — whose cooperation they either want to get out of the shot or stay in one place.
He added: “I listen to their radio babble on a scanner so I can identify where I can stay out of harm’s way. That’s what it’s for and to hear what’s going on.
“Not once have I heard them talk on the radio about money, about offering something to background people, what they do in every other production I’ve ever covered.
“And when they talked about homeless people, someone came on the radio, I think it was Greta, but I’m not sure, but she said, ‘Stop calling them homeless, they’re homeless.'”
Directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig, Barbie stars Margot Robbie as a super-strident version of the iconic doll starring Ryan Gosling as stuffed and ineffective Ken
The day started with Robbie, 32, shooting scenes at a bus stop waiting for Ken
The day started with Robbie, 32, reshooting scenes at a bus stop waiting for Ken before production moved to Tongva Park, where her and Gosling’s stunt doubles were filmed on inline skates.
Gerwig, 39, was present at the park to lead the action. “They spent pretty much the rest of the day taking pictures of the establishment,” said the photographer.
Barbie can be seen in cinemas from July 21
And besides the homeless situation, I’d say almost every kind of waking ideology was peppered in the scenes.
“Anything you can think of. Gay couples, female or male, mixed race couples. They took out other backgrounds and put them in, specifically saying on the radio, “we need to make this a little bit more realistic” or more “diverse”.
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. All scenes seemed forced.’
Gerwig’s politically charged script reportedly addressed a wide variety of social issues, including feminism and misogyny.
But the photographer, who previously shot other shots for the film in the Los Angeles area, said he’s gotten the overriding impression that the film has an all-encompassing “sexist” agenda.
“I witnessed scenes that I thought were blatantly sexist,” he said. In one, Barbie and Ken were skating the Venice Boardwalk and ran into groups of men.
“One was like college boys, the other was construction workers. And both seemed to mimic groups of misogynistic men. They were commenting to Barbie and she would come across and confront them.
Ken came up behind her and said “Hey Barbie, relax” or something like that and she replied, “Shut up Ken, just stay back there. Let me handle this”.
“Ken just seemed like a really stupid guy in the background who was always trying to establish himself, but she would belittle him constantly.”
Australian actress Robbie has said of her role: ‘I think people had a preconceived notion about what the movie was going to be. When it was announced that Greta was directing, all ideas went wild.
“Bringing Barbie back to life was something I couldn’t say no to.
“It’s a fun film, a comedy, but it will also have aspects that people don’t expect.
“I don’t think Barbie could be accused of being a dumb blonde, as she’s been a surgeon, vet, and pilot, so if anything, she’s a trailblazer.”
Greta Gerwig, left, discusses Barbie with cast members America Ferrera, Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie at CinemaCon
Gosling, 42, has said of his Ken: ‘No one plays with Ken. He’s an accomplice and not even one of the coolest.’
Warner Bros., which acquired the rights to the film in 2018, has not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment on the real homeless.
Mattel Films, which is also involved, has not come back to us either.
The film’s plot revolves around Barbie leaving Barbie Land to cross over with Ken to the “real world,” where she is stunned to discover misogyny and other injustices.
Oscar winner Helen Mirren narrates the film, while Anchorman star Will Ferrell plays the boss of the Mattel toy company, which launched the Barbie doll in 1959.
Robbie reportedly earns more than $13 million for her role, formed by Gerwig who wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach.
The press launch took place a week ago at the CinemaCon trade show in Las Vegas as the publicity machine got going for the summer. Robbie, dressed in pink, told the audience that being on set was a “dopamine hit.”
Gerwig has a history of directing strong female characters, with a Best Picture Oscar nomination for Lady Bird in 2017 and for her 2019 version of Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women, starring Saoirse Ronan and Emma Watson.
She told CinemaCon about writing the screenplay with Baumbach, “We made each other laugh and then we started making each other cry.
“He thought it was really good and maybe wanted to direct it. And I said “step aside”. At one point I was so in love with it that I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it.’