18 Things to Know About Jewish Actress Ariana Greenblatt

Her favorite moment on the "Barbie" set was playing Wordle with Michael Cera.

Here at Hey Alma, we have considered it our duty to cover all of the Jewish actors in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 “Barbie” movie. We have 18 things you need to know about Hari Nef, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ana Cruz Kayne. But what about Ariana Greenblatt? No worries, we got you.

Here are 18 things to know about Ariana Greenblatt.

1. Ariana was born on August 27, 2007 in New York to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother.

2. She’s a Virgo!

A Humble Request:
Hey Alma's content is free because we believe everybody deserves to be a part of our radically inclusive Jewish community. Reader donations help us do that. Will you give what you can to keep Hey Alma open to all? (It's a mitzvah, ya know.)

3. She’s Puerto Rican on her mother’s side. Based on this interview in Civilian Magazine, Ariana seems to identify as half-Jewish, half-Puerto Rican.

4. Her father is actor Shon Greenblatt, son of Broadway producers Kenneth D. Greenblatt and Sandra B. Greenblatt.

5. According to her IMDb, Ariana has “always known that she wanted to be an actor” and began acting professionally at just 6 years old.

6. Playing dress-up as a kid has helped her as an actor.

“In elementary school, I would always dress up,” Greenblatt told V Magazine. “I had the Disney princess costumes, but I never wore a full look—I would make my own characters. I’ve always been creating.”

7. Her first big role was as Daphne Diaz on Disney Channel’s “Stuck in the Middle.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgr9mQvnEvv/

8. On set, she became close friends with her TV brother Malachi Barton.

9. In 2018, she played Young Gamora in the Marvel movie “Avengers: Infinity War.”

10. Of course, she took the opportunity to teach Josh Brolin, who played Thanos, and 200 alien background actors how to dab and milly rock.

11. She was named to The Hollywood Reporter’s top 30 under-18 Hollywood talents list in 2019. Mazel tov, Ariana!

12. She’s had roles in “The Boss Baby” series, “In the Heights” and “65,” a movie starring Adam Driver.

13. She’s a connoisseur of boba!

14. In “Barbie,” she plays a human named Sasha.

15. In three words, her experience on the “Barbie” set was “pink, love, surreal.” Some of her favorite moments on set included playing Wordle with Michael Cera and filming scenes with America Ferrera and Margot Robbie.

16. For the “Barbie” premiere, she called her look “Midnight Barbie.”

17. You simply have to listen to her read texts from her mom:

18. She is slated to play Tiny Tina in the upcoming film adaptation of the video game Borderlands.

Ariana is a spectacular new talent in cinema. She has already worked with many of my close collaborators, and everyone raves about her,” director Eli Roth shared. “She blew us all away in her audition, and I cannot wait to see her bring the wild, insane and unpredictable Tiny Tina to the big screen.”

Evelyn Frick

Evelyn Frick (she/they) is a writer and associate editor at Hey Alma. She graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. In her spare time, she's a comedian and contributor for Reductress and The Onion.

Read More