Gerwig tapped The Truman Show director for advice on making Barbieland

The pastel world of Barbieland could’ve been a bit different if it weren’t for The Truman Show director Peter Weir. The highly success feature had a world where all the Barbies lived with their own unique homes, including Weird Barbie, whose home found partial inspiration from the Psycho house.

During an interview with the Associated Press ahead of the theatrical release, while flying under the radar of many, the director of the near-billion dollar flick unveiled that she tapped Weir for advice in creating the world and making it still feel authentic even if it’s an artificial world. This is exactly the kind of thing he’d be up for.

The Truman Show and Barbie have some things in common — both are about breaking out of a fictional wonderland and facing reality.

Gerwig praised the director for getting on the phone with her and giving him advice about making the world feel more real even when the soundstage can only be so big. She also notes that directors are generous when it comes to talking about their work, as she shared her experience making Little Woman, in which Steven Spielberg relinquished his research and lighting diagrams he had largely due to Little Woman and his film Lincoln taking place in the same year.