The Inside Story of Michael Cera's Role in the Barbie Movie

The Ambitious Project of Barbie

Barbie star 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.

Barbie, Allan

Barbie was 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 the Barbie movie 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.

Michael Cera's Last-Minute Casting

Besides lead star Margot Robbie putting on one of her best performances ever, 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 told GQ during 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-popular role as Scott Pilgrim in 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 themselves asking who in the Barbie movie Allan 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.

Barbie's Success and Future

The success of Barbie has been as interesting to watch as the film itself, from the viral marketing campaign to the Oppenheimer connection and more that contributed to making it an instant pop culture juggernaut. While fans debate and wait to see if a Barbie sequel 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.

Barbie is currently available for viewing in theatres.