Prepping For Barbie Put Simu Liu Through A Lot Of Pain
In Greta Gerwig's billion-dollar "Barbie," every frame of Barbieland is made to look like the Barbie toys have come to life — from the plastic walls and furniture of Barbie's pink-soaked Dreamhouse or the way Barbie floats down to her car because what kid really takes the time to walk Barbie down the stairs? This type of detail and commitment to making everything appear as artificial and doll-like as possible also extends to the human actors.
Simu Liu, who plays one of the many Kens, told Page Six that since Ken dolls "obviously don't have hair," the production team had to "rectify the fact" that he does. In order to fit the polished Ken doll aesthetic — glossy, plastic, and poreless — Liu revealed to Allure that he not only had body paint applied every single day, but also had to get rid of his body hair. Even though I remember having a Ken doll with a beard that I could shave, Ken typically has no other hair except the perfect coif on his head. A stereotypical Ken has blonde hair, a tan, a ripped body, and no body or facial hair to reflect his youthful and idealized male image.
In order to get that look, Simu Liu had to do something he never did before: get waxed. It turned out to be a highly uncomfortable but meaningful experience for him.
It gave him a newfound admiration for women
"Waxing has been an education, to say the least. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis," Simu Liu admitted to People. It was his least favorite part of the filming process, mainly because he could not handle how much it hurt. "Imagine the Steve Carell scene from '40-Year-Old Virgin.' That was me ... Being a baby, I was screaming away the whole time," he joked (via Page Six).
Luckily for Liu, waxing wasn't the only thing he had to do to prepare for Ken; he also got to improve his dance skills in "I'm Just Ken," a hilarious musical number with a "Singin' in the Rain" and "Grease" inspired visual style. In the passionate ballad, the Kens ponder the existential meaning of their existence, especially in relation to Barbie: "Do we have agency? Do we exist outside the gaze of the Barbies? Are we capable of defining ourselves outside just what the Barbies think about us?" (via Today) These are the kinds of questions women ask themselves all the time.
Much like the Kens, Simu Liu got a taste of what real-life Barbies go through on a daily basis, especially having to conform to particular beauty standards.