Simu Liu: I had ‘one of the most painful experiences of my life’ filming ‘Barbie’ movie
It was certainly not “fantastic” in the lead-up to filming “Barbie” for Simu Liu.
The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star, 33, revealed he underwent a painful beauty regimen for the upcoming movie, confessing that he had to wax all of his body hair.
“Waxing has been an education, to say the least,” Liu told the Independent in a new profile. “It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.”
The Canadian native continued, “I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis.”
Warner Bros. released a first-look image of Margot Robbie smiling in a hot pink convertible last month on the “Barbie” set.
Robbie, 31, is starring as a live-action version of Mattel’s plastic blond figurine alongside Liu, America Ferrera, Ryan Gosling as her boy toy Ken, as well as Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp and Will Ferrell.
Liu also gushed over the fan love surrounding the movie and noted that he’s excited for viewers to see it on the big screen when it comes out next summer.
“Honestly, the discourse online is giving me life,” he said. “With every casting announcement or bit of news, they’re like: ‘What is this?’ And that’s perfect — the less you know about it the better.”
The “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story” memoirist also told the British edition of GQ earlier this month that his agent helped make him fall in love with the “Barbie” script because he said the “Barbie” screenplay was one of the best scripts that his agent ever read and passed it on to Liu to consider.
“He literally said this verbatim,” Liu explained. “He was like, ‘If I could stake my career on any one script, it’s the “Barbie” script. I really think you should do it.’ ”
The “Kim’s Convenience” actor sent in an audition to director-writer Greta Gerwig, who is co-scripting the project with filmmaker and partner Noah Baumbach.
The “Little Women” director, 38, then asked Liu to come in for a meeting, where she spoke about “how much she loved watching men dance, because it’s such an expression of artistry you’re not used to seeing from typical men.” He revealed that he had a history working with a hip-hop dance troupe.
He added that Gerwig “audibly guffawed, she giggle-screamed — and then I got the part.”
“Barbie” is set to drive into theaters on July 21, 2023.
