Barbie spoilers follow.
The Barbie movie is out now, and perhaps surprisingly given the source material but also not surprisingly given Greta Gerwig directed it, the film has something to say.
While there's plenty of meta commentary about the Barbie brand and the role it has played over the decades, the heart of the film is a monologue that America Ferrera's Mattel employee Gloria delivers.
Her speech touches on how difficult is to be a woman in society, calling out the expectations for women to be a certain way but not too much in that way for fear of being criticised for it. She uses a LOT of examples, and the speech itself and Ferrera's performance of it have become one of the film's biggest talking points.
Related: Barbie's Greta Gerwig reveals scene she refused to cut
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, the Ugly Betty actress said: "When I read the monologue in the script, I was very moved by it and it felt like the truth, it really hit.
"I was excited to get to give it. Greta and I spent months talking about it and preparing for it. I had a blast doing it, she gave me so much freedom to explore and try it a bunch of different ways and I loved it."
Speaking in more detail about her character, Ferrera explained that Gloria "feels this connection and really puts a lot of value on something that she has to hide.
Related: Who could star in a potential Barbie sequel?
"When we first meet her, she's got these pink shoes on but they're under the desk. Her sparkly pink part of her personality that she feels really connected to is hidden away, and this journey for her is one of giving herself permission to express the parts of her that other people might not be that accepting of.
"That felt like an incredibly relatable journey and I loved that for a grown adult woman."
Barbie is out now in cinemas.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer and resident Welsh person at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016.
In his time he's covered a host of live events, interviewed celebrities big and small and crowbarred a countless amount of great/awful (delete as appropriate) puns into articles.
A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe's main interest is in video gaming. Although particularly a PlayStation gamer, he plays across Xbox, Nintendo and PC/Steam Deck, and likes to keep tabs on many games he's not got the time to play.
Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish (which you really should do).
Deputy Movies Editor, Digital Spy
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over seven years, mostly for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas.
Her work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema in the UK.
She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world, and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London.
Now based in the UK, Mireia joined Digital Spy in June 2023 as Deputy Movies Editor.
