‘Barbie’ Casting Directors On Why Bowen Yang, Dan Levy & Ben Platt Didn’t End Up Playing Kens

Barbie casting directors Lucy Bevan and Allison Jones are spilling the tea on how they landed with the perfect set of Barbies and Kens.

“We needed actors who could get the fact that our Barbies only knew pleasant things,” Jones told Vanity Fair during a recent interview.

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Margot Robbie plays Stereotypical Barbie, while Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Ana Cruz Kayne, and Dua Lipa, to name a few, play different variants of Barbie.

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.

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, Dan Levy and Ben Platt 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 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.”

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