In a bit of surprising news, Ben Affleck was originally planned to have a cameo in Greta Gerwig’s hit Barbie movie, according to star Michael Cera.
Cera — who played the unique character of Allan in the film — recently spoke at a Q&A last week, where he revealed that Affleck was originally supposed to be in the movie’s iconic fight scene.
“I wasn’t even supposed to fight in the movie,” Cera said (via The A.V. Club). “Am I allowed to say what it was supposed to be? It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Right? Am I allowed to say that?”
The actor didn’t dive too much into what the cameo was supposed to be, but said it might have fallen through due to him directing a film or not being available. In his place, Cera was actually the one who jumped into the scene.
“I think Ben wanted to do it, but he was directing his movie,” said Cera. “They’re like, ‘Okay, Ben’s out, something has to happen here. So you’re gonna fight them.’ So I had to jump in with the stunt team. I had just gotten over COVID and they had me training, and I almost died. Just doing the warm up! I had to lay down in my trailer and they sent the nurse to see me, and I was sent home. So then we had a second rehearsal, and I learned it. That’s the story basically.”
Barbie’s success extends to award season
Despite not being nominated in the Best Actress and Best Director categories, Barbie was still the fourth-most nominated film at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards, scoring eight nominations in total including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling as Ken), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera as Gloria), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design.
Barbie was directed by Gerwig from a screenplay she co-wrote with husband Noah Baumbach. It was produced by Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerly for LuckyChap and Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner along with Josey McNamara and Ynon Kreiz. During its theatrical run, it earned a worldwide gross of over $1.4 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie of 2023.
