Matt Bomer passed on “Barbie” and being just one of the Kens

Maureen Lee Lenker
·2 min read
6
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Life in plastic was not so fantastic for Matt Bomer.

Matt Bomer decided to pass on living a life of blond fragility.

The Fellow Travelers star revealed to Vanity Fair that he auditioned for several of the Kens in the 2023 summer hit, Barbie, but that he ultimately decided to not visit Barbieland.

“I recorded it on my own, played a bunch of different Kens — and I dressed differently for all of them,” Bomer said, explaining the video auditions he prepared for the film. “I recorded the lines of the other person’s dialogue on my recorder and then gave myself space to respond.”

Bomer said he also spoke to director Greta Gerwig about the project. But in the end, Barbie would have required him to spend extensive time away from his family — and he decided to respectfully pass on the opportunity.

<p>Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty</p> Matt Bomer at the GQ Men of the Year Party 2023 on Nov. 16, 2023 in Los Angeles

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Matt Bomer at the GQ Men of the Year Party 2023 on Nov. 16, 2023 in Los Angeles

Instead, he went to work on two different projects — Bradley Cooper's Maestro as Leonard Bernstein's lover, David, and Fellow Travelers, currently airing on Showtime, about a gay love affair set against the dangerous backdrop of McCarthy-ism and the Red Scare in 1950s America. In the latter, which Bomer had been trying to get made for several years, he stars as Hawkins "Hawk" Fuller, a rising political power player, who cannot resist the allure of Tim Laughlin (Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey), an ideologue new to the political scene.

“Last year was wild,” Bomer said, speaking about jumping into these high-profile projects after leaving Barbie in his rearview mirror. "You get to a place where, when an opportunity like this comes along, you just don’t want to f--- it up. At a certain point, you’ve just got to keep moving forward and not wait for society to catch up to you.”

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.