As the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie starring Margot Robbie nears, we’re getting a look back at what the project almost was. Not too long ago, Amy Schumer was once set to play the titular doll, but that has since changed, as we all know. But why did that project not pan out? Schumer recently spoke to it and dove into the backstory of what happened.
Years back, Schumer began developing the Barbie project at Sony. But by 2017, her involvement ended, as she later cited scheduling conflicts” as her reason for dropping out of the film. The project would soon move to Warner Bros., where we’d soon see Greta Gerwig take over.
On a recent episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the actress & comedian dove into why she walked away from the project. Cohen asked Schumer if she felt that the original version of the script wasn’t “feminist and cool,” and she answered, “Yeah.”
“They said I was too thin,” Schumer joked. “I can’t wait to see the movie. I think it looks awesome. I think we said it was scheduling conflicts. That’s what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. But there’s a new team behind it, and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie.”
Directed by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women), the Barbie movie sees Robbie and Gosling’s iconic toy couple joined by a bumper cast that includes Will Ferrell (Step Brothers), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Kate McKinnon (Bombshell), America Ferrera (Superstore), Ariana Greenblatt (Love and Monsters), Emma Mackey (Sex Education), Alexandra Shipp (tick, tick… BOOM!), Issa Rae (The Lovebirds), Michael Cera (Arrested Development), Hari Nef (And Just Like That…), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Rhea Perlman (Cheers), Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education), Emerald Fennell (The Crown), Sharon Rooney (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain), Scott Evans (Grace and Frankie), Ana Cruz Kayne (Little Women), Connor Swindells (Sex Education), Ritu Arya (The Umbrella Academy), Jamie Demetriou (Fleabag) and Helen Mirren (Shazam! Fury of the Gods).
Barbie is set for release on July 21st, 2023.
