Hey Alma pals, “Barbie” is almost here. *Cue screaming* If you’re anything like us, you’re feeling thrilled, jubilant, maybe a little scared and very, very pink. This is natural. In addition to the secular reasons to be excited about “Barbie,” there are a bevy of Jewish ones as well.
For starters, Ruth Handler, the inventor of Barbie, was Jewish. Next, Greta Gerwig recently said that she wants movie-goers to see “Barbie” and feel like they’re recieving the Shabbat blessings. And finally, the cast is pretty Jewish, featuring actors like Hari Nef, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ana Cruz Kayne.
Here are 18 things to know about Ana Cruz Kayne.
1. Ana was born on April 28, 1984 to a Jewish father and a mother who was raised Catholic.
2. On her mother’s side, she’s Filipina. Here is little Ana with her mom:
Adorable!
3. Her older brother is Michael Cruz Kayne, a stand-up comedian and writer for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
In an interview with Kveller, Michael explained his connection to Judaism, “I’ve always felt a beautiful tie to that part of my ancestry, even though I’m not practicing. (Other than, on the holidays, being with friends or family who recite the prayers that were also prayed by some family members thousands of years ago, which is pretty fucking cool.)”
4. She never had a bat mitzvah, but she’s tried twice!
5. But if she did have a bat mitzvah, the theme would be “A League of Their Own.”
“We’d all sing the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League song,” Ana told Hey Alma, describing what she’d want the event to look like. “And everyone would have a character table like Shirley Baker, who couldn’t read and then read porn with Madonna. A Madonna table. A Rosie O’Donnell table. Oh my God, all my friends would each get a candle and would give a really profound speech that was so moving I would cry. And then we’d sing ‘I Hope You Dance.'”
6. She graduated from Barnard College, where she studied neuroscience and Italian literature.
7. In 2016 she wrote and starred in a short film called “Baby Teeth.”
8. She’s had roles on shows like “Law & Order” and “Partner Track,” and had a role in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women.”
9. She has an absolutely gorgeous cat.
10. She thinks Hanukkah is the most Barbiecore Jewish holiday.
11. She’s dating, in her own words, “the most Jewish king.”
12. Ana brings her Asian-Jewishness to all her acting roles, including “Barbie.”
“I think everything I do has all of my identity in it. I’m such a mixture of many things. I feel like there is no blueprint for people like me. I’m just Jewish-Asian and myself,” she told Hey Alma, adding, “My identity is in every role I’ve been able to do and the amalgamation of mixed Asian Jewishness is my Barbie. In other interviews, [interviewers] are sort of like, ‘Who is your Barbie?’ And I’m like, ‘She’s mixed Asian Jewish! And there are a lot of people like me.'”
13. When speaking to Vogue about finding her Barbie character, Ana likened it to Passover!
She said, “Like the youngest child asks at Passover, What makes this night different than other nights? It’s like, What makes this Barbie different than other Barbies?”
14. The “Barbie” cast had sleepovers during the film’s production. Here’s what Ana had to say about them:
15. She plays a Supreme Court Justice Barbie in “Barbie.” And, in our humble opinion, she’s the most iconic Jewish justice since RBG. In case you’re curious what her judicial rulings in Barbieland would be, here’s what she told Hey Alma:
“Reinstating Roe. What else? I’d say universal healthcare, universal childcare, universal pre-K, all the things that help women be successful in their lives without giving up their autonomy.”
16. Her Barbie was a part of this intense “beach off”:
17. She wore a gorgeous terno to the “Barbie” premiere.
18. In her next project, she’ll be starring in the Netflix show “Painkiller” opposite Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-YonhNS0Y
