Summary
Barbiestar Michael Cera revealed how he secured his spot in the Greta Gerwig film after almost being left out. His comments, which came in a pre-strike interview, also highlight the film director’s attitude.
Barbiewas an ambitious project that aimed to tell a mature story that centers on the fallout from the titular character experiencing an existential crisis after leaving her idyllic Barbieland for the real world alongside her longtime beau Ken, and how it leads to a journey of self-discovery. The project was difficult to visualize, with eventual project director Gerwig initially thinking theBarbiemovie would be a career-ender for her, which allegedly became the deciding factor in her taking the project head-on. The film was a massive success, in no small part due to its ensemble cast.
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Besides lead starMargot Robbie putting on one of her best performancesever, the film also featured many other popular stars, such as Cera, who revealed in a pre-strike appearance that he almost wasn’t in the movie. “It was a kind of very last-minute casting,” Cera toldGQduring the interview. “My manager got a call checking on my availability for it, and he called me, and he said, ‘I got a call about this movie. It’s the “Barbie” movie. Greta Gerwig’s directing it, and it’s filming in London for four months or something, so I told them you probably wouldn’t want to do it because you probably don’t want to go to London. I was like, ‘What! Call them back!’ He didn’t like blow it or anything, but he’s like, ‘I managed their expectations that you might not want to do it.’ I was like, ‘How can I not do it? I need to do it!'”
Cera, who was recently confirmed to be reprising his most-popularrole as Scott Pilgrimin an anime adaptation being developed by Universal and Netflix, explained how he took matters into his own hands afterward. “I somehow got Greta’s email address, I think through a common friend of ours, and I emailed her like, ‘Can I be in it? Can I do that part?'” Cera said. “And she was like, ‘Let’s get on a Zoom right now. Here’s a Zoom link, I’ll be on there for the next hour.’ So she was just hanging out on the Zoom, like, ‘Click the link whenever you’re ready.’ And then we talked about it, and it just all happened really fast from there.”
While casual moviegoers might have caught themselvesasking who in the Barbie movie Allen was, Cera’s portrayal of the character based on a long-since discontinued companion for Ken was still a welcome addition to the film. The extra effort Cera employed to ensure he was in Gerwig’s production indicates that he had far more faith in the film’s success than the director herself.
The success ofBarbiehas been as interesting to watch as the film itself, from the viral marketing campaign to theOppenheimerconnection and more that contributed to making it an instant pop culture juggernaut. While fans debate and wait to seeif aBarbiesequel is announced, should there be another film in the franchise, Cera will likely want to be involved, and fans will be as interested in seeing more of the oddly unique albeit awkward doll.
Barbieis currently available for viewing in theatres.
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