Amy Schumer was supposed to play Barbie before Margot Robbie, but she left the production because she didn’t like how things were going. Hollywood is full of stories that could have been true. Many popular movies and TV shows could have been very different if the casting directors had had a different vision.
For example, James Rhodes was recast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Bob Odenkirk tried out for the role of Michael Scott on The Office. A recent report from Joe.Co says that the same thing happened with the upcoming movie Barbie, which was supposed to star comedian Amy Schumer.
The second teaser trailer for the highly-anticipated movie came out recently. In it, Margot Robbie plays Barbie and Ryan Gosling plays Ken. Even though the teaser shows different actors like Emma Mackey and Simu Liu playing each version of Barbie and Ken, it’s hard to imagine Amy Schumer as the lead.
But that seems to have been the plan until 2017 when Schumer was cast as the main character in the long-awaited movie version.
Amy Schumer turned down the role in Barbie
With the release of the new Barbie trailer, an interview in which Amy Schumer explained why she turned down a role in Barbie has gone viral. The 41-year-old comedian couldn’t do this film in 2022 because he had other plans. The actress said that she was sad that she couldn’t be in this movie, and she added, “The movie has a lot of promise, and Sony and Mattel have done a great job working together.
I’m sad, but I can’t wait to see Barbie in a big movie theater.” Sony has answered through a representative who said, “We agree with Amy’s choice and respect it. We’re excited to bring Barbie to the world, and soon we’ll give updates on casting and film-makers.”
Amy said in an interview that she didn’t take this part because she and the director had different ideas about the role. She explained, “It was clear that they didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to, which was the only way I was interested in doing it.”
In an interview, Amy said that her first idea for her Barbie was that she would be an inventor. The studio thought that Schumer’s Barbie should be the one who came up with high heels and that they should be made of Jello.
Amy said that it was clear after that how different their beliefs and ideas were. They also gave Amy a pair of shoes by Manolo Blahnik, which can cost up to several thousand dollars. Amy said, “I should have told him, ‘You’ve got the wrong girl,’ because that’s what every woman must want.”
Amy Schumer faces backlash for Barbie
When Amy’s casting was announced in 2016, Internet trolls were mean to her. People started making comments about her size and appearance. People made fun of her body and said things like, “By letting Amy Schumer be a Barbie, Mattel is completely ruining Amy Schumer’s reputation.”
Amy wrote on Instagram in response to all of the comments, “Is it fat-shaming if you know you’re not fat and have no shame in your game?” No, I don’t think so. “When I look in the mirror, I see myself.”