Barbie: Michael Cera’s Agent Originally Turned Down Role for Him

Warner Bros. Pictures recently released one of if not the biggest movies of the year with the live-action Barbie movie, and fans loved every second of it. Barbie was directed by Greta Gerwig and featured a cast led by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. But it also featured big names in its supporting cast, like Will Ferrell and Michael Cera. Cera, who plays Allan in Barbie, has been a staple in the comedy genre since his debut in Superbad and his iconic role in Arrested Development, so you would think that he’d be up to show off his comedic chops in the live-action film about the most famous doll on the planet. It turns out that Cera was interested, but his agent initially turned down the role before speaking with him, and the actor had to take things into his own hands. While appearing in a new video for GQ, Cera reflected on how he landed the role of Allan in Barbie.

“It was a kind of very last minute casting. My manager got a call checking on my availability for it,” Cera recalled. “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.’”

The Barbie star continued, “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.”

What Did Michael Cera Loved About Playing Allan?

ComicBook.com recently spoke with the actor while he was doing the press tour for Barbie, and he revealed the one thing he loved about playing Allan. Cera reveals that he loved that Allan participated in the uprising after Gosling’s Ken brings patriarchy to Barbie Land. 

“I love that I get to be a part of the uprising,” Cera shared. “I’m honored that Allan is included in that and he’s just really happy to be there and get rid of all these horses and leather couches.”

What is Barbie About? 

In Barbie, to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig comes Barbie, which hits theaters later this month. Barbie stars Oscar-nominees Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film also stars Ana Cruz Kayne, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Scott Evans, Jamie Demetriou, Connor Swindells, Sharon Rooney, Nicola Coughlan, Ritu Arya, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren. Gerwig directed Barbie from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach, based on Barbie by Mattel. 

Barbie is exclusively in theaters now. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on Barbie as we learn them!

What do you think about this? Are you glad that Michael Cera was cast in Barbie? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!