The enchanting Barbie doll has left a gentle imprint on her partner Ken's heart. Director Noah Baumbach, who shares the delight of parenthood with his wife Greta Gerwig, two young sons aged 6 and 2, has credited his relationship with the Barbie director for a subtle softening of his guard over the years. "I cry a lot now," he confessed to GQ in an interview published on November 12. "I find life to be emotionally enriching in a wonderful way."
The catalyst for this change? As the 56-year-old artiste put it, "Aging, but also the joy of having children." And let's not forget, he added, "Being with Greta."
According to Noah, the Little Women director—who he began dating shortly after working together on the 2012 film Frances Ha—has helped him embrace his whimsical side and "start to accept" parts of his personality that he once shied away from. "With Greta and I, we truly understand each other, even if our expressions sometimes differ," he continued. "That helped me gain insight into myself and realize, 'Actually, I am like that.' She'd say, 'I love da-da-da,' and I'd think, 'I do too; why am I not saying it?'"
In fact, the Jay Kelly cowriter—also a father to son Rohmer, 15, with ex-wife Jennifer Jason Leigh—admitted that he wasn't initially on board with working on Barbie but ultimately cowrote the Margot Robbie flick due to "Greta's unbridled joy and light." "The funny thing is I was offered Barbie in a completely different form, perhaps a decade ago," he shared. "I thought it was a bad idea then, and I still thought it was a bad idea when it resurfaced."
However, thanks to Greta, the experience working on the project transformed Noah. "It's what I was telling you: feeling like I had that light within me but wasn't shining it," he reflected. "I want to shine that light, and she's giving me permission to do so. And in a way, watching Barbie and the sheer pleasure it brought—not to minimize the difficulties involved—was truly inspiring to me."
