Michael Cera has revealed that he nearly lost out on the chance to plan Allan in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
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The actor stars as Mattel’s discontinued doll in the satirical comedy, led by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Since the film’s release in cinemas last month, Cera’s awkward character Allan has become a fan-favourite. However, the Canadian actor has since explained how he came close to missing out on the role altogether, thanks to his manager.
In a recent video interview with GQ, the Superbad star revealed that his casting was “very last-minute”.
“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,’” Cera recalled.
“And I was like, ‘What?! What do you mean? Call them back!’” he continued. “I mean, he didn’t blow it or anything, but he’s like, ‘I managed their expectations that you might not want to do it.’ And I was like, ‘How could I not do it? I need to do it.’”
Cera went on to say that he connected with Gerwig via email, where outright asked the Lady Bird director if he could take the part. “It all just happened really fast from there,” he added.
Discussing his oddball character, Cera described Allan as a “sad figure” who “doesn’t really have any place in the world”.
“Allan is actually based on a real doll that enjoyed a very short production run,” he added. The doll was introduced in 1964 as Ken’s best friend. He was discontinued two years later due to low sales.
Elsewhere, Gerwig recently revealed that scheduling conflicts prevented Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan from making cameos in Barbie.
