Now, the Barbie cast was pretty much perfect as is, but in the months following the movie's release, a lot has come out about who could have been in the ensemble, and they are too good to not be bummed about. Great talents like Dan Levy, Jonathan Groff and Bowen Yang were almost Kens, but for a while now I’ve been the saddest about how Greta Gerwig couldn’t bring her Little Women and Lady Bird leads back for a third round. After Gerwig previously revealed that Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet almost had cameos in Barbie, Ronan has expanded on what almost was.
Be warned, after learning who Saoirse Ronan almost played in the Barbie movie, you might become Depression Barbie. It’s just that good. Here’s what Ronan shared:
I don’t know what he was going to be, but I was definitely going to be Weird Barbie. I don’t know how to take that. I would have been with Kate McKinnon, so that would have been nice. I had a scene but didn’t ever get to do it, and it wasn’t in the movie.
Ronan revealed the information while speaking to Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, where she premiered her new film, The Outrun -- which will hopefully premiere on the 2024 movie schedule. Back in 2022, the Oscar-nominated actress said she was “gutted” she couldn’t make the movie work due to scheduling, especially after she led Gerwig’s other two directorial efforts, 2017’s Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women.
And no offense to Ronan in any way, but she would have been perfect as another Weird Barbie. While the actress has gravitated to a lot of dramatic roles over the years, she’s great at comedic timing, and I think her moment with Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie (as another Weird Barbie) would have been a highlight of the film. When asked more about the specifics of the role, she also said this:
I can’t even remember now, but it was weird. I think I’d be the strange girl who talked to herself and always had her pet dog with her and always talked to the dog and wouldn’t look at anyone.
Yeah… she would have crushed this, and it would have been hilarious to see more worldbuilding regarding the Weird Barbies of Barbieland. Is there an entire side of the world where Weird Barbies are just weird together? Anyway, I did warn you knowing about this might trigger the Depression Barbie in you.
Along with Saoirse Ronan’s lost role in Barbie, her Little Women cast mate Timothée Chalamet was almost in Barbie as well. While on The Tonight Show, he said he might have played “one of the rejected Kens,” implying it might have been “a reject French one.” Like Ronan, he had his own scheduling conflicts and couldn’t make the cameo work. Not having two of Gerwig's frequent collaborators in Barbie is truly the biggest bummer.
While Ronan and Chalamet are not in Barbie, you can currently watch it with a Max subscription. Here’s hoping the pair will reunite with Greta Gerwig for her next feature!
