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Sharon Rooney is “notorious for being antisocial.” No, seriously, she tells GLAMOUR, “I never go anywhere. I hate going out. When I'm home, I'm home.”

There are two notable exceptions: 1. When Margot Robbie invites her to a Barbie-themed sleepover (“I'm on my way”) and 2. When she attends Barbie's UK premiere at Leicester Square, wearing a bespoke Natalie & Alanna gown, complete with Bulgari accessories.

Sharon plays 'Lawyer Barbie' in the rose-hued Barbie blockbuster dreamed up by Greta Gerwig. She can't tell me much about Lawyer Barbie's adventures (other than “she's a lawyer by day and a dancer by night”), but she's clearly a high-glamour departure from Sharon's previous roles.

Many of Sharon's fans (she has a 186K-strong following on Instagram) know her best as Rae Earl in My Mad Fat Diary, which ran on Channel 4 in 2013-15. Sharon's portrayal of Rae, a sixteen-year-old girl beset with anxiety about her appearance, earned her critical acclaim (not to mention a British Academy Scotland Award). Would Rae approve of Lawyer Barbie? Probably not; the latter is “more put-together and more pastel.” As for the rest of the world? We're absolutely obsessed.

Here Sharon Rooney tells GLAMOUR's Lucy Morgan about her love affair with Barbie, her friendship with co-star Ana Cruz Kayne, and the life-affirming joy of working with women.

GLAMOUR: Hi, Sharon! Thanks for chatting with us today. You're officially a Barbie girl. Has it sunk in?

Sharon Rooney: When I got the call, I just thought, ‘Shut up. What?’ I just couldn't believe it, and I still, even now, can't really believe it. It doesn't feel real.

How does ‘Lawyer Barbie’ compare to your previous roles?

I don't think Rae [the lead in My Mad Fat Diary] would like ‘Lawyer Barbie’ because she's much more put together, and she's a lot more pastel. But she's fun. All of the Barbies are fun. It's such a fun world to be in. I mean, I'm sure you've seen it. It's very pink.

Everyone was so happy on that job... It must be the colour pink. It just does something to people. It was just such a nice place to be. I'm predominantly a lawyer, but as you know, Barbie is everything. So she gets up to many things as Lawyer Barbie.

Did you enjoy getting dressed up as Barbie?

My first fitting with Jacqueline [Durran] was one of the best fittings I've ever had in my life. She's an incredible costume designer. We all know that she's an Oscar winner. I was so excited to meet her because I love her work, but I was nervous as well because it's a big deal going into costume fitting with someone like her and her assistant, Emily [Bowen].

When I first met them, she was just so nice, and it was all just so positive. And she was like, "What do you like? What colours do you like? What do you wearing?" "I like what you're wearing today." And I just had on a little jumpsuit. I always wear jumpsuits. I love a jumpsuit.

Everyone looks excellent all the time. And they feel good, too. And when you feel good, you look good. Right? Because you feel good inside, so it just shows.

And I loved every single one of my costumes. And each time I'd put a new one on, I'd go, "This is my favourite." And then I'd get my next one. I'd be like, “Oh no, this one's my favourite.”

Did you get to keep any of your costumes?

No. There's one that I really wanted, but it wasn't allowed. It's a green tracksuit. I love tracksuits. It's got little baby pink love hearts on. It was so comfy, I just loved it. Jacqueline Durran is a genius. She's amazing. The palette of this film is, it's delicious. I love it.

Barbie feels like a reclamation of everything that we're taught to be embarrassed about as we become women. Do you think the film is a celebration of all things feminine?

Yeah, I love it. There are so many different Barbies in this film, and I feel like everyone's going to relate to at least one of the Barbies – or you might relate to one Barbie at one point and then relate to another Barbie at another point. This film's for everyone. One of the trailers said, "If you love Barbie, this movie is for you. If you hate Barbie, this movie is for you." And it is so true. This, it's for everyone. And Barbie's for everyone because Barbie has everything. And that's why I loved her growing up because I didn't look like Barbie. Well, I do now.

“Growing up, I didn't look like Barbie. Well, I do now.”

"We're taking it back. But I loved Barbie because I was just amazed that this woman could be everything: she was a singer, actress, doctor, and vet, and she had a big house… She had friends, and she also had a Ken. But he was... I had one Ken and about 15 Barbies and all the clothes. I thought Barbie was so cool; no one ever told her she couldn't be.

Who tells us that we can't be everything? Because we can. We're actually quite cool, aren't we?

We are!

We're actually pretty great.

Barbie has undergone a bit of an evolution since I was growing up. She was getting criticised for her long neck, big boobs, and tiny waist. People called her unrealistic, which I guess she was. Is this film a new frontier for Barbie's body image and beauty standards?

Yeah, because there are all different Barbies. So Margot plays stereotypical Barbie, which is obviously her story and her journey. I think it was Margot that said this in an interview a while ago, "Whatever you think this film is, it is not," which is true. And I just, I'm so shocked to be a part of that because I know that little me would be so excited.

I'm so jealous of the young girls today who are going to be sitting in the cinema watching it. I wish it had come out when I was younger!

I went to see The Little Mermaid last week with my friend, and the Barbie trailer came on, and there was a few little kids there. I kind of just held my breath, and I heard a few of them go, "Mummy, it's Barbie." And I was like, “Oh, this is so exciting. It's so exciting.”

You mentioned that this film follows stereotypical Barbie's journey. Is there scope for Barbie 2, Barbie 3, Barbie 4, where the different Barbies get their own movies? I would love to see a movie about Lawyer Barbie.

I don't know, but you should pitch that to Greta because I'd be there.

Maybe I will

I'd be there. If Greta phoned me in the middle of the night one night and asked, "Could you come and do that?" I'd be anywhere she wanted me to be. I'd be there because working with her was... It was amazing.

What kind of working environment does Greta create?

When you're little, and you think, "I want to be an actress. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be so much fun." That's what it was. That's what Barbie was like. It was truly all of my childhood dreams come true and then some because I literally was in a Barbie Dream House. The whole job, I think I pinched myself about a thousand times because it just felt unreal.

And it's funny because I know that sometimes people do interviews, and they're like, "Oh, it was just the best thing ever, and it was amazing." But truly, every single member of crew, every member of cast, you couldn't go anywhere without someone saying hi or asking how you went or just having a chat. And I truly, truly believe it comes from the top.

Who were you closest to out of the Barbie cast?

Well luckily, we all got on really well, which I know is really boring.

I want to know about the feuds!

I know. So boring, right? It's so boring. I would say that my bestest Barbie was Ana Cruz Kayne. We just got really close. We were the naughty Barbies. We were always giggling. I just adore her. I mean, I love all of the Barbies and Kens, obviously. But we just got on really well. You know when you just click?

I adore her and I miss her because obviously, she's back in America. So we usually text, either she's going to bed, and I'm up, or I'm up, and she's going to bed. So there's like a tiny window where we can chat.

“I want to push it further and be braver… I want to be more Barbie.”

What have you got in the works after Barbie? Other than a Barbie sequel, obviously…

I'm filming at the minute. I'm doing a show for BBC called Nightsleeper. You know the night train that goes from London to Glasgow? It's about that… and something happens on it. It's the opposite of Barbie.

Now, I'm on a dark, stressful train where there is no pink. I haven't seen a shade of pink. I haven't had a tweed outfit. I haven't had a tracksuit; I've had a train uniform. So yeah, it's been the total opposite [of Barbie] but just as much fun.

Really?

That was a lie. Nothing's ever going to be as fun as Barbie. I've peaked in terms of the most fun job, I think. That would be my task: to find a job as fun as Barbie.

You've mentioned before that you're keen to experiment with writing as well as acting. Can you tell me more about that?

I want to write my own thing and just make my own stuff. I think coming from Barbie, working with […] those women was so empowering and to have that kind of instant support from them… You can tell when it's fake, but it was so natural. It was just a constant support network.

And it was so nice that that happened because it didn't always happen. You know what it's like. It's hard out there, right? Sharon Rooney So I think from that and then watching, especially Greta, how she kind of does both so well, like masterfully and Margot, too. It just makes me want to push it further, be braver, just be more Barbie, I guess. And just go for it because there are people cheering you on and in your corner; not everyone's waiting to get you.

I've done more writing since Barbie because it's given me that confidence and courage, I guess, like that little, "Come on." But I do just think Barbie's everything. And if you can be a Barbie, if I can literally be a Barbie, I can be anything.

This interview was conducted before the current SAG-AFTRA actor's strike started.

For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.

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