Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie has its fair share of Barbies and Kens played by some of the biggest names in Hollywood and beyond (ahem, Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Dua Lipa, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa… and the list goes on.) But there were even more familiar faces that almost joined the cast.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Barbie's casting directors Allison Jones and Lucy Bevan very casually revealed three other Hollywood A-listers who turned down the role of Ken: namely Bowen Yang, Dan Levy, and Ben Platt. Now, if you are looking for an overly complicated reason why these three could not join the cast, don't — because it all boils down to scheduling and logistics.
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According to the casting directors, the movie was filmed in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and required prospective Barbies and Kens to move to London for a whole three months, which meant many names on the other side of the pond had to reluctantly pass. "[Yang, Levy, and Platt] were, I'm not kidding, really bummed they couldn't do it," Jones shared.
Aside from the Ken-Barbie binary, there was also another actor who was "heartbroken" not to be included in the movie: Broadway veteran Jonathan Groff, who almost nabbed the role of Allan, which ended up going to Michael Cera. Ultimately, Groff had to pass for the very same reason. "Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, 'I can't believe I'm typing this, but I can't do Allan,'" Jones added.
In the past, Saoirse Ronan had also spoken up about being just as gutted as these prospective Kens (and Allan) from not being able to join the movie as a Barbie. "I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London, and they were [filming] there," Ronan recounted, also citing scheduling conflicts as the reason why she had to pass. "There was a whole character I was going to play — another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn't do it."
They might not have made the cut this time around, but may all these actors live their best life in plastic in a parallel universe — or, hey, maybe one of the many potential sequels.
