Amy Schumer Was Originally Cast As Barbie In The New Movie Instead Of Margot Robbie

[BUtterfield 8 41,664]

Needless to say, excited viewers took to Twitter to heap praise on this glimpse at the Australian actor’s performance, but it wasn’t long before it was noted that Margot wasn’t actually the first choice for this role.

While what we’ve already seen of the movie makes it obvious that Margot’s casting should have always been a complete no-brainer, the role wasn’t always so clear-cut.

For a bit of context, development on a Barbie film first began all the way back in 2009, when Mattel signed a partnership with Universal Pictures. Nothing happened with this project, and Mattel ended up teaming with Sony Pictures in 2014 instead.

In late 2016, Sony cast Amy Schumer in the titular role, and she was also signed on to cowrite the script.

But four months later, Amy cited “scheduling conflicts” as she backed out of the project. In March 2022, the comic admitted that this excuse wasn’t entirely true and that she’d actually decided to leave the movie due to creative differences.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Amy said she quickly realized that the studio had “the wrong gal” and that there was only one way that she was interested in making the movie, which did not align with Sony’s vision.

“The studio definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it. The only way I was interested in doing it,” Amy said at the time.

She went on to reveal that she wanted her character to be an inventor and was underwhelmed by Sony’s suggestion that Barbie could invent a pair of high heels made out of Jell-O.

The final straw came when the studio sent Amy a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting being announced. She explained: “The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal.’"

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[AURAOFSHEISSE 6,516]

Thank God she wasn’t 

[Borisapillar 9,721]

It's April 5th!

[LaLuna 12,732]

16 minutes ago, Borisapillar said:

It's April 5th!

Came here to say this 

[berlinforme 5,362]

Would have been an entirely different vibe. I think with Margot it's going to be the more interesting movie. 

[SevenWonder 4,504]

I could see Amy's version being where her Barbie, one day, wakes up and is no longer perfect. She's no longer skinny and gorgeous. She's more... regular. This causes her to go down a rabbit hole of messiness as she struggles though this existential identity crisis.

Honestly, it could have been hysterical. 

[ALGAYDO 33,757]

I just know she would’ve done an amazing job at portraying Barbie as a real human woman, instead of the traditional pretty-skinny-plastic kind of gal that Barbie embodies 

[SimonBaetens 8,899]

I saw the title and thought it would say 'as Harley Quinn'.

[K e n 732]

Both would be equally great, just in different ways. Glad we get to see Margo’s version. 

[Franch Toast 27,343]

I think the real difference here is between Amy and Greta Gerwig. An Amy Schumer-written script would’ve been extremely different from a Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach-penned script.