This Barbie is grateful not being the Barbie.
While Anne Hathaway was, at one point, set to hop into the iconic pink convertible, her version of Barbie never materialized. And ultimately, for the Devil Wears Prada actress, that was for the best—especially after seeing director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie's 2023 blockbuster.
"I think the thing you have to imagine is, and the thing that's so exciting about Margot and Greta," the 41-year-old explained on the Dec. 11 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "They hit a bullseye, and the bullseye caused the entire world to reach this level of ecstasy."
"Now imagine that version, that much energy, that much anticipation, that much emotion, but it's not the right version," she continued. "So, I actually think of it as a lucky thing, and as I mentioned, I think that Margot is just sublime, period. What she is doing as a creative person and a producer is so exciting and inspiring."
Indeed, Anne was in negotiations to lead a Barbie movie directed by Alethea Jones in 2017 after Amy Schumer dropped out of the project. However, after Warner Bros. picked up the rights to the film from Sony in 2018, the project reset, leaving the door open for Margot's production company to pitch its own version of the movie with Greta as co-writer and director.
And the Princess Diaries star couldn't help but marvel over Barbie's continued success.
"The mythic giants that they toppled with that film that have kept certain narratives in place that have not allowed opportunities to develop for so many people," the Eileen actress noted. "They ran straight through them, dancing, sparkling!"
When it comes down to it, Anne thinks the right version of Barbie was made.
"I'm not just saying this," she continued. "I'm thrilled by the development and if I believed that the version that I was attached to could've done that, yeah, I might feel differently about it, but I genuinely think theirs was the best possible version."
Of course, Anne isn't the only person who nearly took the trip to Barbie Land. Keep reading to see more stars who were almost cast in the fantastic world of Barbie.
Amy Schumer
Seven years before Greta Gerwig's version of Barbie premiered, a movie based on the popular doll was already in the works at Sony, with the comedian attached to the project.
And while in 2017, she announced she wouldn't be able to star in the film due to scheduling conflicts, earlier this year, she revealed the real reason behind her exit.
"I think we said it was scheduling conflicts," she said during a June 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live. "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."
The Trainwreck star's sentiment echoes what she previously shared about the direction she realized the project was going in.
"They definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it," she told the Hollywood Reporter in March 2022.
Noting that she wanted Barbie to be an "inventor," she said the studio had the idea that a creation of hers would be heels made of Jell-O and later sent her a pair of Manolo Blahniks."
The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there," she said, "I should have gone, ‘You've got the wrong gal.'"
After Amy's departure, the Devil Wears Prada alum signed up in 2018 to replace the comedian, with a set release date of 2020. But by the end of that year, Deadline confirmed that Anne was no longer attached to the project, which had made its way over to Warner Bros. with Margot Robbie as Barbie instead.
Margot, who serves both star and co-producer of Barbie, originally envisioned the Wonder Woman star to lead the Barbie world.
"Gal Gadot is Barbie energy," Margot told Vogue of the actress, who wasn't available for the part. "Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don't hate her for being that beautiful because she's so genuinely sincere, and she's so enthusiastically kind, that it's almost dorky. It's like right before being a dork."
Ahead of Barbie's premiere, the Lady Bird alum (and longtime collaborator of Greta's) revealed she was up for a special cameo in the film. Alas, she was busy shooting The Outrun in Scotland at the time.
"I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there," she told People. "There was a whole character I was going to play—another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn't do it."
Saoirse wasn't the only one Greta was hoping would make a special appearance, as the director revealed she also had her eyes set on Lady Bird's Timothée Chalamet.
"I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed," Greta told CinemaBlend. "But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I'm not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom."
The Schitt's Creek alum was unable to take on a role of a Ken due to the cast having to spend three months filming in London, the film's casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair.
The actor himself told People in January 2024, "Logistically could not make it work despite desperately trying to. So, yeah, I guess I was technically unavailable to do that."
He added, "Does it haunt me when I sleep at night Sometimes. It's not like it isn't like one of the biggest movies of all time. That was a tough, that was a tough day."
Another Ken that could've been? Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang also wasn't available to film, according to Allison.
And last but not least, Ben Platt rounded out the trio of potential Kens, who, as Allison revealed, were "really bummed they couldn't do it."
The Glee alum felt decidedly not gleeful about missing out on the role as Allan (which would later go to Michael Cera).
"Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can't believe I'm typing this," Allison shared, "but I can't do Allan."