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Margot Robbie in talks to play Barbie

Cohen described in detail Robbie's graphic Wolf of Wall Street sex scene. Photo: Paramount

Cohen described in detail Robbie's graphic Wolf of Wall Street sex scene. Photo: Paramount

Australian actress Margot Robbie could soon star as everyone’s favourite plastic lady, Barbie, in a live-action movie about the iconic doll.

This revelation comes courtesy of Wikileaks, which has leaked 170,000 emails taken from the servers at Sony Pictures.

In the email exchange, titled ‘Plastic Fantastic’ and dating back to March last year, executive Doug Belgrad discusses the casting choice with former Sony boss Amy Pascal.

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“As far as who would play Barbie probably an ingenue. I like Margot Robbie, for instance. Or possibly a discovery,” Belgrad writes.

In Pascal’s reply, she agrees Robbie would be a “great” choice, adding she is “Barbie come to life”.

Another email from a Columbia Pictures executive indicates Robbie was approached about the idea and was enthusiastic about the role.

“Bugliari and JP pitched Margot the idea for Barbie and she loved it! She’s free in October once she wraps Tarzan,” executive Hannah Minghella writes.

The emails also address a potential costar for Robbie, with names like Kristen Wiig, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Sandra Bullock and Amy Adams being thrown into the ring.

However, Wiig is quickly shot down as being “a bit sad/pathetic”, whilst Bullock is rejected for being “too old”.

“I like Amy Adams more than Wiig – more marketing bang there. Wiig is funny but can seem a bit sad/pathetic while Amy is entirely endearing,” executive Dwight Caines writes.

Schumer appears to be the top choice for the role of Barbie’s sidekick Maggie, with producer Laurie MacDonald telling Pascal she is “obsessed with” the female comic.

“She is so brilliant,” MacDonald writes.

“If we don’t go with a big star we think she could be a very cool choice for Maggie. Love how modern her take is on women’s issues. In the course of our conversations she talked about how much she wants to further explore why women so often lack the confidence of much less competent men-Maggie right?”

The leaked emails, which came to light last year but have only recently become easily searchable, have caused a series of issues for Sony and lead to Pascal stepping down as co-chair of the company.

The exchanges reveal insightful details about the movie industry, including the salaries of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and the scripts of some highly-anticipated new release films.

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