The Barbie movie was the biggest film of 2023, but you might be surprised by this fun fact!
If you don’t know, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star as Barbie and Ken (in a world of 11 Barbies and 5 Kens, all played by different stars.)
However, 2 other stars were first attached to the film before Margot.
Keep reading to find out…
Scroll down to see who else was lined up for the film…
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer was originally cast as Barbie when Sony was developing the project, but in 2017, it was revealed she had dropped out of the project.
At the time of her exit, she cited “scheduling conflicts” with her 2018 film I Feel Pretty as the reason for her departure. In 2022, she went on to clarify what really happened.
“They definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it,” she told THR.
She went on to explain that she and her sister/writing partner Kim Caramele wrote Barbie as an “ambitious inventor,” while the studio asked that her invention be a high heel made out of Jell-O. Amy also said that she was sent a pair of Manolo Blahniks to celebrate the film deal.
“The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal,’” she said.
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway reportedly was being eyed to replace Amy Schumer after she exited the project in 2017.
By 2018, reports emerged that Anne‘s version of the film had been delayed and would instead be released in 2020.
In October 2018, however, Sony’s option on the Barbie movie apparently expired. This is when Warner Bros. swooped in and began developing the role. It’s unclear why Anne exited the project, but Margot‘s casting was confirmed in 2019.
In late 2023, Anne commented on her version of the film that didn’t end up getting made.
She shared with Variety, “You learn to just go…the right role finds the right person, and sometimes it’s you and sometime’s not. When it doesn’t happen, trust deeper and keep going…it sounds maybe corny but you really do have to keep it grateful.”
“Margot is sublime,” she added. “What she is doing as a creative person and a producer is so exciting and inspiring. The mythic giants they toppled with [‘Barbie’] that have kept certain narratives in place that have not allowed opportunities to develop for so many people…they ran straight through it! Just as cinema-goer and just as woman in Hollywood since I was a kid, I’m thrilled by the development. If I believed that the version I was attached to could have done that I might feel differently about it, but I genuinely think their film was the best possible version. It’s easy just to be thrilled and happy [for them]. I love watching women kill it. To do so well, so undeniably that they actually had to write new records…come on! I think it will probably make things better.”