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Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling nailed their roles as Barbie and Ken in Greta Gerwig‘s Mattel-inspired blockbuster. But as with any major Hollywood production, swarms of A-list talent are lined up to potentially take on the leading Barbie characters.
It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the lively duo, but a few select stars were tapped for the titular Barbie and her boyfriend Ken.
Though Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir ended up portraying various versions of well-dressed Kens, a few select stars were initially tapped to take up residence in Barbieland. As the film’s casting directors revealed, others had to bow out due to the three months of filming in London required by the colossal production.
Among those that were close to playing Kens were Emmy Award-winning SNL comedian Bowen Yang, Schitt’s Creek and The Idol actor Dan Levy, as well as Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt.
“They were really bummed they couldn’t do it,” the film’s casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair.
Even Allan, Ken’s red-haired hair brought to life by Michael Cera, was almost played by Glee’s Jonathan Groff.
“Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I can’t do Allan’,” Jones revealed.
Margot Robbie’s character, on the other hand, went through many variations during the almost ten years it took to get the film rolling. Ahead, all the would-be stars of Barbie.
Gal Gadot
Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot, was originally who Gerwig and Robbie had in mind to play the real-life doll.
Robbie, who is also a producer of the film, revealed to Vogue that she and Gerwig had been searching for someone who had the right energy.
“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy,” she said. “Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don’t hate her for being that beautiful because she’s so genuinely sincere, and she’s so enthusiastically kind that it’s almost dorky. It’s like right before being a dork.”
Gadot, unfortunately, couldn’t commit to the project, so Robbie gallantly stepped into the pink stilettos of Barbie’s heroine.
Amy Schumer
Back in 2015, comedian Amy Schumer was first attached to play the leading role. But this version never moved forward for a few reasons. Getting candid with Entertainment Weekly, Schumer explained that on top of “scheduling conflicts”, there were “creative differences” that caused her to walk away. She also shared that at that time, the proposed storyline didn’t feel very “feminist and cool.”
By 2018, the script moved to Warner Bros., where Gerwig signed on to work her magic.
Anne Hathaway
According to Vanity Fair, a script was created by Olivia Milch, who worked on Ocean’s 8 with Anne Hathaway, that was tailored for Sony to suit the actress. Sadly, by 2018, Sony’s option on Barbie timed out, and the rights went back to Mattel.
Luckily, with one sweeping hot pink Valentino look, Hathaway ended up cementing herself in the Barbie world, anyway.
