In an interview with GQ (conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike), Michael Cera opened up about his “last-minute casting” as Allan in Greta Gerwig’s live-action Barbie movie, revealing that he almost didn’t play the fan-favorite role. Cera shared that his agent initially turned down the part under the assumption that the Scott Pilgrim star might not be interested in travelling for the project’s filming in London.
“It was a kind of very last minute casting. My manager got a call checking on my availability for it,” Cera said. “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?! What do you mean? Call them back.’ I mean, he didn’t like blow it or anything, but he’s like, ‘I managed their expectations that you might not wanna do it.’ And I was like, ‘How can I not do it? I need to do it.'”
Thankfully, Cera was able to reach out to Gerwig and discussed the movie through a Zoom meeting. He added, “So somehow I got Greta’s email address, I think through a common friend of ours, and I emailed her. I was like, ‘Can I do that part?’ 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. She’s like ‘Just click that link whenever you’re ready.’ And then we talked about it and it just all happened really fast from there.”
Live-Action Barbie Movie’s Box Office Performance
Since its theatrical release last July 21, Barbie has currently grossed more than $1.9 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the second highest-grossing movie of 2023. Crossing the billion-dollar mark has also made Gerwig the first solo female director to receive this box office achievement. The film is still currently playing in theaters worldwide, which will then be followed by its digital release on September 5.
The film stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Kate McKinnon, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Hari Nef, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Dua Lipa and more. It will also feature music from multiple artists including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Ice Spice, and K-Pop girl group Fifty Fifty.
Barbie is directed by Oscar nominated filmmaker Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. It is produced by Robbie and Tom Ackerly for LuckyChap and Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner along with Josey McNamara and Ynon Kreiz.
