Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie dominated the pop culture zeitgeist of 2023 as the highest-grossing film of the year.
After the film based on Mattel's fashion dolls spawned hilarious memes and earned several distinguished accolades, including a Best Picture Academy Award nom and two Golden Globe wins, Barbie is still part of an online discourse today.
Now, Michael Cera has let it slip that Ben Affleck was supposed to be featured as a cameo in Barbie for a fight scene with him and a crew of "construction Kens" on the outskirts of the fictional Barbie Land.
In the film, Cera played Allan Sherwood, who Mattel introduced in 1964 as Ken's friend.
During a Q&A attended by The A.V. Club, Cera revealed:
“I wasn’t even supposed to fight in the movie."
“Am I allowed to say what it was supposed to be? It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Right? Am I allowed to say that?”
Based on Cera's statement, Affleck could have played either one of the "construction Kens" or an Allan variant.
While details about Affleck's involvement in Barbie remain sparse, Cera explained the Dark Knight actor's interest in being a part of the project.
The Superbad actor continued:
“I think Ben wanted to do it, but he was directing his movie."
The movie Cera referred to was the biographical sports drama Air, which Affleck directed and starred in.
Ultimately, Cera was informed of Affleck's nixed appearance at the "11th hour" and the production had to reckon with a plan B.
“They’re like, ‘Okay, Ben’s out, something has to happen here. So you’re gonna fight them,'" he recalled being told.
"So I had to jump in with the stunt team."
But the sudden change in plans wasn't without its challenges.
He continued:
“I had just gotten over COVID and they had me training, and I almost died. Just doing the warm up!"
"I had to lay down in my trailer and they sent the nurse to see me, and I was sent home."
"So then we had a second rehearsal, and I learned it. That’s the story basically.”
Moviegoers weighed in on the missed opportunity.
Cera noted that none of this was ever a "part of Allan's journey" before describing a scene that might've been pushing the envelope for his character.
“In the rehearsal, we did the thing where I murder the guy with the shovel and it was just a joke, and we were like ‘Greta’s not going to let me murder someone in the movie.’"
"And it’s in the movie!”
Perhaps it worked out for the best.
In a previous Q&A, Gerwig touched on Cera's “deep understanding” of Allan, which led to her trusting the actor with any scenario he was dealt.
She recalled:
“I remember right after you read the script and then we Zoomed, you said, ‘I sort of hope, like, Allan’s just like behind people slightly out of focus. And I was like, ‘That’s Allan!’”
Affleck wasn't the only cameo considered for Barbie.
Casting directors Allison Jones and Lucy Bevan disclosed in an interview with Vanity Fair that Dan Levy, Bowen Yang, and Ben Platt were considered to appear in the film as Kens, while Jonathan Groff was tapped to play Allan.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter