Barbie casting director reveals stars who turned down Ken roles

Barbie’s casting director has spilled on who rejected the chance to star in the box office smash alongside Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie.

Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in a scene from Barbie.

The casting director for box office smash Barbie has opened up about the Hollywood actors who turned down the opportunity to play one of the film’s many Kens.

Ryan Gosling has already earned widespread praise as the main Ken alongside Margot Robbie’s Barbie, while Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir also appear as other iterations of the male dolls.

According to Allison Jones, Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy, Dear Evan Hansen’s Ben Platt and Saturday Night Live comedian Bowen Yang were also approached about being in Barbie.

Simu Liu and Ryan Gosling as versions of Ken alongside Margot Robbie.

“They were, I’m not kidding, really bummed they couldn’t do it,” Jones told Vanity Fair, adding that most bowed out due to an inability to commit to the three-month filming schedule in London.

Levy was approached about playing Ken but declined. Picture: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

Platt also turned it down. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

The casting director also revealed that Glee star Jonathan Groff was initially asked to play Allan, Ken’s limited edition friend, who ended up being portrayed by Michael Cera.

“Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I can’t do Allan,” Jones said.

Initial plans for Barbie had Amy Schumer tapped to star as the titular doll which was being set up at Sony back in 2016, with the comedian and her sister and writing partner, Kim Caramele, working on the script.

Schumer dropped out of the project just four months later, citing scheduling conflicts at the time, but later revealed that it was actually due to creative differences.

“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 the Hollywood Reporter in 2022.

Hathaway was later named as Schumer’s replacement, but also had to quit the project after its release date was postponed.

Schumer was initially cast as Barbie. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Robbie herself also revealed earlier this year that she wasn’t first choice to play the iconic doll, and had only stepped in after another high-profile movie star turned it down.

The Australian actress had already been attached to Barbie prior to her casting, with her production company LuckyChap Entertainment working with Heyday Films and Mattel Films to produce it.

“This is going to sound stupid, but I really didn’t even think about playing Barbie until years into developing the project,” the twice-Oscar nominated actress told Vogue US.

Instead, Robbie first had Wonder Woman star, Gal Gadot, in her sights.

“Gal Gadot is Barbie energy. 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,” Robbie said.

“It’s like right before being a dork.”

But Gadot wasn’t available, and so, Robbie stepped into the pink shoes.

Meanwhile, the newly-released Barbie has already proven a massive success, taking in $21.55 million at the Australian box office over the weekend.

Thanks to the added $9.4 million from the highly-anticipated Oppenheimer, dubbed the “Barbenheimer effect”, it’s now become the biggest weekend in Australian cinema history.