Michael Cera's Manager Almost Blew His Barbie Casting As Allan
In Greta Gerwig's summer smash hit "Barbie," Michael Cera plays Allan, the much put-upon doll originally released by Mattel to be a companion for Ken. He's a misfit among the Barbies and Kens of Barbieland, invisible to them all, a fate implied to be the result of the real-world toy's poor sales. Though given little screen time, Allan is a memorable addition to the film, in many ways even more relatable than Ryan Gosling's Ken. But Cera almost missed his shot at getting the role thanks to a risky negotiating tactic from his manager.
Speaking to GQ, Cera explained, "It was, like, 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, you know, 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!'"
Cera was understandably vexed. Gerwig's attachment to "Barbie" had elevated the nascent film in public perception from yet another franchise-building attempt to something that now seemed like it had the potential to be the rare corporate film with auteur sensibilities. So, to secure the role, Cera reached out to the director himself.
Michael Cera got the Allan role by speaking to Gerwig himself
After Michael Cera's manager preemptively turned down Cera's role as Allan in "Barbie," the actor was understandably distraught. "I mean, he didn't, like, blow it or anything," Cera clarified to GQ, "but he was like, 'I managed their expectations that you might not want to do it,' and I was like, 'How can I not do it? Like, I need to do it.'"
Far more interested in the role than his manager may have assumed, Cera took matters into his own hands. He reached out directly to "Barbie" director and co-writer Greta Gerwig, tracking down her contact information, then emailing her personally to convey his interest. "I emailed her," he said. "I was like, 'Can I be in it? Can I do that part?'" Luckily for Cera, Gerwig still wanted him for the project and dropped what she was doing to have a virtual chat. "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,'" Cera said. "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 all just happened really fast from there."
Cera wasn't the only actor enamored of working with Gerwig. There was reportedly no shortage of actors auditioning to play the film's various Kens. But the director apparently had a singular vision for the role of Allan, and it went by the name of Michael Cera.