Meet the Cast of "Barbie" and the Real Dolls They Portray

Barbie Millicent Roberts was first introduced in 1959. The doll resembled glamor icons of the time, like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, but by the 1960s, she mirrored the various colours, styles, and fashion of the era. Throughout the years, Barbie has undergone many transformations and has sparked several doll varieties, ranging from Nascar Barbie to Holiday Barbie. Today, the Barbie brand can be recognised in any store with dozens of new dolls to purchase on a regular basis.

After her launch in the late 1950s, Barbie was solo for a couple years. By 1961, however, Ken Carson was introduced to the Barbie line of toys. Ken served as a counterpart to Barbie (and arguably Barbie's love interest), and has since also sparked a number of different doll varieties.

Since Barbie was introduced in the '50s, she has taken on a number of different career paths. In 1992, a presidential candidate edition of the iconic doll hit store shelves. By 2016, Mattel released a set of all-female Barbies, including a president and vice president, to "inspire girls to believe they can be anything — including leader of the free world."

Barbie is no stranger to politics and diplomacy, and while there isn't a singular Barbie that Nicola Coughlan's character is based on, she is inspired by the Julie Bishop Barbie, which was released in 2021. Bishop served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia from 2013 to 2018, and has been the Chancellor of Australian National University since 2020.

Just three years after Ken hit stores, another male Barbie, Allan, was introduced in 1964. According to Polygon, Allan was first paired with Midge Hadley, Barbie's best friend, but it only lasted a year before Mattel discontinued its production of the doll.

Simu Liu plays one of the many variations of Ken that we have seen over the years. With his beachy attire, he most resembles the California Dream version of Ken, which was released in 1998.

Ncuti Gatwa's guitar-toting, cowboy hat-wearing variation of Ken most resembles the Kenny Barbie doll, which was released as part of Mattel's 1998 Grand Ole Opry Barbie & Kenny Doll Country Duet set.

Mattel has involved Barbie in the science field as far back as the 1960s with the release of astronaut Barbie. Emma Mackey's character isn't based on a singular Barbie, but is inspired by a line that Mattel released in 2023 of prominent female figures in STEM, as well as other dolls like astrophysicist Barbie, released in 2019.

In 1973, Barbie ditched her fashionable style for scrubs when the official Doctor Barbie was released. The original doll included two outfits: a set of teal scrubs for procedures and a white lab coat for examining patients and important documents. Doctor Barbie has evolved over the years and has since included a variant with babies for Doctor Barbie to tend to, but it hasn't strayed too far from the original teal outfit.

Since Barbie's launch, she tackled a number of different occupations. Sharon Rooney's character is loosely inspired by Mattel's 2003 Elle Woods doll, based on Reese Witherspoon's iconic role in "Legally Blonde."