“Barbie” Actress Slated to Star in Major Production in RI — In Limbo Due to Strike

“Barbie” Actress Slated to Star in Major Production in RI — In Limbo Due to Strike

Earlier in July, GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle was first to report that two major studio projects slated to be filmed in Rhode Island are on hold due to the Hollywood strikes. 

Now, GoLocal can confirm one of the projects that was moving forward — but is now in limbo. 

The weekend, in a New York Times feature on veteran costume designer Ann Roth, producer James Brooks said he had tapped Roth to work on his new movie -- “being shot in Rhode Island.”

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The movie is “Ella McCay” and is set to star Emma Mackey, who plays one of the Barbies in yes, “Barbie.” 

On Thursday, Steve Feinberg with the Rhode Island Film and Television Office told GoLocal due to the strikes, he could not confirm the project’s status at this time. 

Mackey, who was born in France and went to college in London, has starred as Maeve Wiley in Netflix “Sex Education” and as Emily Brontë in the movie “Emily” which earned her a BAFTA rising star award in 2023. 

Brooks, the co-founder of Gracie Films, counts among his television and film work The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, The Simpsons, Broadcast News, As Good as It Gets, and Terms of Endearment.

Brooks has received 53 Emmy nominations, winning 21 of them.