Amy Schumer Dropped Out of ‘Barbie’ Because Original Version Wasn’t ‘Feminist and Cool’ Enough

We almost got a very different version of Barbie than Greta Gerwig’s sugar-sweet spectacle of Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken that will hit theaters on July 21. For one, Amy Schumer was almost the actress who would have brought the doll to life on-screen, and Hilary Winston was leading the screenplay, rather than Noah Baumbach and Gerwig, who stepped in when that initial version was scrapped. From Schumer’s perspective, that was all for the best — the original just wasn’t “feminist and cool” enough.

“I can’t wait to see the movie, it looks awesome,” Schumer told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live. She had announced her departure from the film way back in 2017 before Gerwig and Baumbach were attached. “I think we said it was scheduling conflicts, that’s what we said,” she added of her original departure announcement. “But yeah, it really was just creative differences. But you know, there’s a new team behind it, and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing the movie.”

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Schumer did try to save the original script, planning for rewrites alongside her sister Kim Caramele, but it apparently needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. “Sadly, I’m no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts,” the actress said in a statement in 2017, a year after she signed onto the project. “The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I’m bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen.”

Gerwig and Baumbach eventually signed on to bring Barbie to life the right way, with Robbie tapped as the new lead. It also meant a move from Sony to Warner Bros., which is leading the film’s nationwide release.

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