“Knoxville native Christina Hendricks shifts to play a cut-throat doll in 'Toy Story 4'

“Knoxville native Christina Hendricks shifts to play a cut-throat doll in 'Toy Story 4' - Knoxville News Sentinel” plus 1 more

Knoxville native Christina Hendricks shifts to play a cut-throat doll in 'Toy Story 4' - Knoxville News Sentinel

Posted: 14 May 2019 12:00 AM PDT

Allie Clouse, News Sentinel Published 5:00 a.m. ET May 14, 2019

After her Emmy award nomination, actress Christina Hendricks talks about missing the 'Mad Men' series and what it means to be nominated for the show for the last time. (July 17) AP

Knoxville-born Christina Hendricks is most known for playing Joan Holloway, the brash office manager on "Mad Men." However, audiences can expect her newest character to be even more cut-throat.

This June, Hendricks will voice Gabby Gabby, the vintage villain on "Toy Story 4."

In an interview with Collider, Hendricks said that her casting couldn't have been a better fit and hinted at what audiences can expect on the big screen this summer.

"I just thought it seemed too good to be true," Hendricks said. "The first time that I went in, they showed me some animation, showed me the doll, and showed me her minions, who are these creepy ventriloquist dolls. I was like, 'You guys have no idea how perfect this is for me. I actually have a weird ventriloquist doll at my house.' Of course, the doll looks like me, so I was in heaven. Not only that, my doll lives in an antique store. I was like, 'You don't understand. I've spent half of my life in antique stores. You guys got in my weird brain.' "

According to Entertainment Weekly, Josh Cooley, the director of "Toy Story 4," agreed that Hendricks was the right person to bring Gabby to life.

"We couldn't have picked a better person to voice our villain than Christina Hendricks," Cooley said. "It's perfect. She can play such sweet innocence and kindness, and then at the flip of a switch, she can go just so cold and terrifying. It's so much fun."

"Toy Story 4" arrives in theaters nine years after the franchise's last movie. The film is full of new faces, including characters voiced by celebrities including Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key and Keanu Reeves, but Knoxville moviegoers have one of their own to watch.

Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang are back for Disney's "Toy Story 4." They're joined by a spork who is having a bit of an identity crisis. USA TODAY

Hendricks was born in Knoxville in 1975, because her dad, who had a job with the U.S. Forest Service, worked in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

After that, Hendricks and her family moved across the country often because of her father's job, making it difficult to find a place to call home.

Hendricks' interest in acting began early after her mother encouraged her to join a local theater group as a way of making friends. After another major move, Hendricks found security in her high school's drama department. Since then, Hendricks has starred as the lead in popular television shows and independent films.

"Toy Story 4" will be arrive in theaters June 21.

Want to read more stories like this? A Knox News subscription gets you unlimited access to inside stories on famous Knoxville natives, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites.

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Iconic Barbie fashion comes alive in vintage collaboration - Daily Mail

Posted: 13 Nov 2018 12:00 AM PST

NEW YORK (AP) - In time for her 60th birthday, Barbie has a new collaborator bringing her wide-ranging style to life for humans.

One of the largest sellers of vintage-inspired clothes, Unique Vintage, is working with Barbie parent Mattel on the first women's line to meticulously duplicate some of the doll's most iconic early looks. In the process, the company also has taken care of the one thing critics love to hate about Barbie, her very plastic hourglass physique, by offering the outfits in sizes XS to 4X.

The collaboration, Barbie x Unique Vintage, celebrates 1950s and '60s Babs. The company that sells online and in about 500 boutiques around the world plans to go even bigger for Barbie's big 6-0 next year, offering key fashion moments from across the rest of her decades.

Until then, for fall, we caught up with all things Barbie x Unique Vintage in the swanky Jewel Suite designed by jeweler-to-the-stars Martin Katz in the Lotte New York Palace hotel on Madison Avenue. Katz paired a few of the looks with some of his own bling, from $36,000 button earrings in a rainbow of sapphires, garnets and tourmaline to a $48,000 cocktail ring of Bombay spinel cabochons and round diamonds.

All of the glam pleases Katie Echeverry. She's the founder, CEO and creative director of Unique Vintage, an 18-year-old company with 60 employees based in Burbank, California. With her long blonde locks and Barbie-esque dimensions, Echeverry said she was a Babs fan as a girl but was also a "tomboy" who loved to play softball.

During a recent round of media interviews explaining how the collab came about, Echeverry donned a Kelly-green shawl dress worn by Barbie in 1962 and done by Unique Vintage in a forgiving stretch fabric. Noteworthy was Echeverry's most definitely un-Barbie upper-arm tattoo, on proud display in the off-shoulder outfit, as she recalled her luck.

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, designer Katie Echeverry, seated right, join models Tiffany Hendrix, seated left, Kelsey Elliott, standing left, and Lori Moran, wearing outfits from a Barbie inspired fashion line she created in collaboration with toy company Mattel in New York. The collaboration, Barbie x Unique Vintage, is sold online at uniquevintage.com and in about 500 boutiques around the world. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

"When I emailed Mattel, I didn't think they'd actually reply back, but they did, and I was thrilled," Echeverry told The Associated Press. "They ran with it. I couldn't believe they hadn't done it before."

Echeverry worked closely with Mattel but "they didn't dictate what I chose." Mattel opened its archives to her as she went about duplicating outfits, with adjustments to account for the real human form. She said she chose looks that "spoke to me."

Barbie, the doll, first hit store shelves in 1959. That year, she stepped out in a swirl of gold and white brocade for evening. The dress was among those Echeverry picked and sells for $118 on uniquevintage.com. The matching collar coat with three-quarter sleeves trimmed in faux fur goes for $148.

Unique Vintage has brought Barbie fashion full circle, in a sense. It was a designer for actual women, Charlotte Johnson, who was hired to be the doll's first fashion creator. A Mattel team took over soon after Barbie's debut.

Echeverry's first Barbie go-around dropped in the spring. Social media fans of vintage and of Barbie took notice and sales have been brisk, she said. For fall, her prices range from $88 for an A-shaped Barbie flare skirt in green with a white hem to $198 for the doll's red matinee sleeveless sheath dress and short jacket trimmed with calico-colored faux fur.

It was important to Echeverry to choose looks that have remained iconic through the years but were wearable by women in the broad range of sizes she is committed to providing.

"I was like a kid in a candy store," she said. After the first season went on sale, Echeverry watched the response online, where nostalgia kicked in among fans who recalled favorite outfits, some gushing how they'd always wondered what it would be like to wear the looks themselves.

That goes a long way in explaining why Echeverry was more than a little dedicated to getting the clothes right.

"I went online and ordered every single vintage outfit myself. Mattel offered to lend them to me, but I was a little nervous about having some of their archives," she said. "In our fittings, we literally had the original Barbie dress next to the model. We moved Barbie. When I sourced fabrics overseas, I had Barbie clothes in my pocket and I was making sure we got as close as possible."

She was also dedicated to the price points she knows her buyers are after.

"I know our customer and she doesn't want to spend a lot of money, and I understand that," Echeverry said.

Unique Vintage sells shoes, hats, gloves, sunglasses and jewelry to complement the Barbie outfits. The company offers a red pillbox hat, for instance, to go with Barbie's 1962 red flare coat done in a soft felt with the same swing and puffy three-quarter sleeves and bow the doll wore, down to the white lining done in a white poly satin.

Barbie wore a cloche tweed hat with a rose with her "Career Girl" tweed pencil skirt set in 1963. Unique Vintage offers a black fascinator with a rose instead, for $22.

As for her afternoon of glam in the Martin Katz suite, with its shiny black grand piano and sparkling crystal ceiling decor on the 53rd floor of the Towers at Lotte, Echeverry was impressed.

"This is so glamorous. It's so much fun. The view's incredible," she said.

While noting Barbie's evolution as a "strong kick-ass woman" over the years, Echeverry said she was ready for a bit of her own reality after her recent promotional go-round.

"It's unusual to find me in a dress," she said. "As soon as this interview's over I'll be putting on my jeans and my T-shirt and be back to the regular Katie."

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Kelsey Elliott holds a Barbie doll while wearing a matching outfit from designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Lori Moran holds a Barbie doll and wears a matching outfit from designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Tiffany Hendrix holds a Barbie doll while wearing a matching outfit by designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Kelsey Elliott wears a Barbie inspired outfit from designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Lori Moran wears a Barbie doll inspired her outfit from designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

In this Nov. 5, 2018 photo, model Lori Moran wears a Barbie doll inspired her outfit with matching earrings from designer Katie Echeverry in New York. Echeverry's company, Unique Vintage, based in Burbank, California, is the first Mattel collaboration for a fashion line based on Barbie outfits. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)