BARBIE Casting Directors Say Dan Levy, Bowen Yang & Ben Platt Were All Originally Cast as Kens

One of the most fun aspects of the Barbie movie that came out last weekend was the star-studded cast that was seen all throughout the film. Some of the cast included Margot Robbie in the lead role of “Stereotypical Barbie,” and other Barbies were played by Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Ana Cruz Kayne, and Dua Lipa. Ryan Gosling landed the role of “Beach Ken” with Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa, and John Cena, to name a few, playing other versions of Ken.

These weren’t the only actors considered in the roles, and the film’s casting directors, Lucy Bevan and Allison Jones, explained to Vanity Fair during a recent interview that due to Covid restrictions, some potential Kens were not able to make the shoots in London where they would’ve had to spend three months. The directors revealed that Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live), Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) and Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) ultimately didn’t land a role in the film due to scheduling conflicts.

“They were, I’m not kidding, really bummed they couldn’t do it,” Jones said. Michael Cera ended up with the role of Allan, the only Allan in Barbieland, after Jonathan Groff said that he couldn’t do it, Jones revealed.

Bevan and Jones said they were surprised by Kingsley Ben-Adir as, up until now, he had been known for playing dramatic roles in shows like The OA, Peaky Blinders and The Comey Rule, as well as films like One Night In Miami.

“Not a big comedy résumé,” Jones said. “It’s always a joy when you can discover that somebody is funny.”

On the group of diverse Kens, Bevan added, “They were definitely really different, but they had to feel like a cohesive group. You wanted to cast people who were really going to get on and be great and enjoy it.” The casting director also mentioned that several actors looking to land a role of Ken tried to audition shirtless but she told them, “No, no, it’s not about that. You don’t have to do that.”

It wasn’t yet clear to the people auditioning that the characters in Barbieland aren’t super deep-thinking, and don’t have any motives aside from living their simple lives and interacting while looking fabulous. It would have been fun to see those other actors in the movie as well, but it turned out great, and the ones who were involved did a great job.