Margot Robbie was 'mortified' by the attention Barbie shoot generated

Margot Robbie finds shooting Barbie in Los Angeles to be a 'mortifying' experience. Photo / AP

Is there an upcoming movie that is more anticipated than Barbie, the feature film adaptation we didn't know we needed?

If the reaction to the leaked set photos of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling decked out in hypercolours was anything to go by, then this is going to be cultural movement.

The fluoro pink! The highlighter yellow! The technicolour visors! Dust off your rollerblades because this is going to be a thing. Get ready for "Barbiecore" because it's definitely coming.

But the same photos that stirred excitement among the hoi polloi is exactly what made life hard for the stars and the production.

Robbie revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that she was "mortified" by the reaction to the photos.

"I can't tell you how mortified we were, by the way," Robbie said. "We look like laughing and having fun, but we're dying on the inside. Dying. I was like, 'this is the most humiliating moment of my life'."

Robbie said having to film exterior scenes in Los Angeles was always going to attract attention – they didn't exactly blend in – but she was surprised by the level it reached.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Barbie. Photo / Supplied

"I knew we had some exteriors to shoot in LA. I knew once you were doing exteriors, you're gonna get papped. There's probably going to be a little crowd of people who are going to take notice because, you know, we stand out a little bit in those outfits.

"So I knew there was going to be a little bit of attention and probably some photos would get out there, but not like it did.

"It was like mad. It was like hundreds of people watching all the time."

Barbie has been a headline-generator ever since this version of the project was announced in 2019. The involvement of high profile actors and filmmakers including Robbie, Gosling, director and co-writer Greta Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach has meant the expectations are far beyond the creative standards of Barbie in Swan Lake.

There's little known about the plot but there are confirmations there will be several Barbies and Kens in the film with other iterations to be played by including Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Ncuti Gatwa and Hari Nef.

The cast also includes Emma Mackey, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Emerald Fennell.

The rom-com is being produced through Sony and Robbie's production house LuckyChap Entertainment.

Barbie is due for release in July 2023.