Michael Cera Says Agent Almost Passed on BARBIE for Him Because He Didn't Think the Actor Would Want to Do It

Barbie was a fantastic time, and with all the incredible actors who starred in it, and the writing, it’s no wonder it has become a bit of a phenomenon, breaking box-office records records and remaining in the spotlight for a solid month so far. Each cast member brought so many special moments to the movie, with one fan-favorite exemplifying a unique character, not Ken, not Barbie, but Allan.

Michael Cera played the character Allan, a doll who was released in 1964, who was marketed as Ken's buddy who could also fit into Ken's clothes. He was hilariously awkward, which is kind of Cera’s brand, but he was also surprisingly agile in his fight scene! But all this almost didn’t happen for the actor, as his agent assumed he wouldn’t want to travel to London to shoot the movie.

In a recent interview with GQ (conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike), Cera explained:

“It was a kind of very last minute casting. 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.’ 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.'”

Thankfully, Cera was able to reach out to Gerwig and discussed the movie through a Zoom meeting. He went on:

“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.”

Cera definitely made the right call. Barbie is a hit, and it will live on as a fan favorite.