Ben Affleck and Olivia Colman Were Both Supposed to Appear in ‘Barbie’ In Scenes We Would Have Loved to See

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 20 February 2024

The list of “almost, but not quite” Barbie cast members is extensive, but these two, admittedly, were unexpected: apparently Ben Affleck and Olivia Colman both originally had parts, but it ultimately didn’t work out.

Olivia Colman — Colman was originally slated to play the second narrator opposite Helen Mirren

Per Bustle, Helen Mirren—who took on the role as narrator of the film—recently told Variety that Colman was set to star opposite her as the film’s second narrator (a power duo if there ever was one). “It was a very funny scene with Olivia Colman sort of playing drunk and us clashing about who is the real grande dame of British actresses,” Mirren said. “She comes in and tries to take over the role of the narrator and I had to fight her off.”

Colman’s cameo ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor—but she wasn’t alone down there. On the February 15 episode of the “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast, Michael Cera—who plays Alan and stars in Super Bowl commercials on the side—said that Affleck, too, was supposed to make a cameo.

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Michael Cera — Cera spilled that Affleck was also supposed to make a cameo

Referring to his fight scene with the construction Kens in the movie, Cera said that he “wasn’t even supposed to fight in the movie” and added “It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Am I allowed to say that?”

While “Ben wanted to do it,” Cera said, Affleck dropped out last minute because of prior commitments on the movie Air, which came out last year as well and which he starred in alongside close friend Matt Damon.

Ben Affleck — Affleck's role in "Air" ultimately prevented him from appearing in "Barbie"

Affleck and Colman are in good company when it comes to actors who almost were in Barbie but, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out: Barbie casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair that Ben Platt, Bowen Yang, and Dan Levy were all supposed to be Kens, but, again, scheduling conflicts reared its ugly head. The film’s director Greta Gerwig also told Cinemablend that she had written a “specialty cameo” for Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet, but, again, busy schedules prevented it.

And Matt Bomer also auditioned for Barbie but walked away from the project: “I recorded it on my own, played a bunch of different Kens,” he told Vanity Fair of his remote audition. “I dressed differently for all of them.”

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.