Here's Why Kristen Wiig Played Two Roles In Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar [Exclusive]
Every so often a film comes along and completely shakes the cultural landscape to its core. A movie so remarkable, so emotionally powerful, so entertaining — filmmakers quake with the devastating realization that nothing they ever make will be able to reach the heights set by the film. Features like "Citizen Kane," "Casablanca," "Jaws," and "The Godfather Part II" have all set the standard, but few were prepared for the cinematic brilliance of 2021's "Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar."
In the Josh Greenbaum-directed comedy from Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar" follows the screenwriters as the titular besties from Soft Rock, Nebraska as they embark on their greatest adventure yet — a tourist resort in Southern Florida. Unfortunately for them, they arrive in the midst of a supervillain's master plan to destroy the resort, and only Barb and Star can take her down.
"Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar" was a shocking delight and the type of absurdist comedy that seldom gets the green light in our current algorithm-obsessed landscape. /Film's own Ben Pearson recently talked with Greenbaum in honor of his upcoming film "Strays," but made sure do to the lord's work and sneak in a question about "Barb and Star." Namely, Pearson wanted to know the story behind casting Kristen Wiig as not just Star, but also as the unrecognizable villain, Sharon Fisherman.
Two roles for double the silliness
During the interview with Josh Greenbaum, Ben Pearson notes that there were rumors circulating that another actor had auditioned for the role of Sharon Fisherman before Kristen Wiig ultimately played double duty. "I, from the get-go, wanted her to play both parts and she understandably wasn't sure in the sense of, 'Is it too much to take on as producer, writer, actor? Does it feel like, narcissistic in any way? Look at me,'" says Greenbaum. Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote the script before bringing it to Greenbaum, and the trio reworked the project together to bring it to the final form we all saw on screen. Wiig read the part of Sharon during this time, solidifying Greenbaum's thought that she should be the one to play the role.
"And hearing her read that part, in my mind, I'm like, 'No one else should be anywhere near this role,'" he says. "So the reason you may have heard that a couple of people maybe sort of read was that we were still in that process of feeling out." Greenbaum tells Pearson that he's "grateful that [his] theory won out," because Wiig is absolutely phenomenal in the role.
"Her dynamic with Jamie Dornan was so funny and then when they got in the room together, once Jamie came down to Mexico City when we started filming, we did rehearsals like, 'Yes, they're so funny together.' So I was really grateful that that's how it worked out." Despite Wiig's fears that taking on the additional role would somehow read as narcissistic, test audiences apparently couldn't tell that Wiig was the actor underneath the white painted skin and black bob hairdo. What a testament to her comedic brilliance.