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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Sarah Barrett

Sex Education star Emma Mackey bags role in Barbie film with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling

Sex Education star Emma Mackey is set for her biggest role yet alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in a live-action Barbie film.

British-French actress Mackey, 26, shot to fame in her breakthrough role as Maeve Wiley in the Netflix comedy series Sex Education, which earned her a BAFTA Television Award nomination for Best Female Comedy Performance.

Now it's reported Emma has bagged a top role in the Barbie film, which is set to be released in 2023.

Two-time Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling will star opposite Margot Robbie as Barbie’s longtime boy toy Ken.

Plot details have not yet been revealed, and very few roles have been named.

More iconic actors have been announced; their characters, though, remain a mystery. This includes Simu Liu, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, and Ariana Greenblatt.

(AFP via Getty Images)

The film, which centres around the very famous line of Mattel dolls, is being kept under wraps.

Barbie moves through generations with her all-pink wardrobe and high fashion outfits and the 90s Aqua song, Barbie Girl, is still a bop for most.

In an interview with the Sun, a source said: “Emma is one of the brightest stars to come out of Sex Education. The series was a break­through into the industry for her, and as Maeve she made waves.

“Emma’s name has become hot property and everyone wants a piece of her. She was Jacqueline De Bellefort in the new film version of Death On The Nile and plays Emily Bronte in the biopic about the writer’s life, which is out this year.

“And after she auditioned for Barbie she was snapped up. The directors think she will fit in perfectly with Margot and Ryan.”

Mackey also starred in Kenneth Branagh's 2022 mystery thriller film Death on the Nile, the sequel to 2017's Murder on the Orient Express.

Emma is set to play Emily Bronte in an upcoming biographical film Emily, which will focus on Brontë's early life, and will be her first leading role.

While details of the film are yet to be released, Margot Robbie recently teased: “We like the things that feel a little left of centre. Something like Barbie where the intellectual property, the name itself . . . people immediately have an idea of, 'Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is.”

Sitting in the director’s chair for Barbie will be Greta Gerwig, who has established herself as one of the strongest voices in Hollywood in recent years with Lady Bird and Little Women.

It should be known that, with Gerwig behind the scenes, it will not be your typical Barbie movie.

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