Sony's new live-action film Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, has catapulted onto our screens months before it's even hit cinemas – we've seen teasers, we've seen trailers and even the cast shots have gone viral. But it turns out some stars actually turned down the opportunity to be in the film everyone's talking about, including Amy Schumer.
In a resurfaced interview from last March, Amy told The Hollywood Reporter that she turned down the role of Barbie, after being sent a pair of shoes to secure the deal. She said, 'they definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it.'
The Trainwreck actor explained that her plan for the film was for Barbie to be an inventor and the studio asked if she could be the inventor of high-heels made out of Jello. They even sent her a pair of Manolo Blahnik's (which cost around $1,195) to celebrate the casting, which Amy took as a tell tale sign they weren't on the same page.
'The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, "you've got the wrong gal".'
However, six years ago in 2017 is when Amy first issued a statement about how she was 'no longer able to commit to Barbie' due to her schedule. She said: 'The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I'm bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen.'
A spokesperson for Sony also said: 'We respect and support Amy's decision. We look forward to bringing Barbie to the world and sharing updates on casting and film-makers soon.'
In 2019, it was announced that Margot Robbie would be replacing Amy as Barbie. And now that the trailers have arrived and we've caught a first glimpse of Margot as Barbie in Barbie Land, some fans have dug up the original interview with Amy. All publicity is good publicity as they say!
While the decision to cast Margot as Barbie has been widely celebrated, the rest of the casting is wide-ranging – with stars like Dua Lipa, Jamie Demetriou, Sharon Rooney and Helen Mirren all appearing in the film. The full (and eclectic) cast has been shared on social media via top-trump style picture cards, which has inevitably led to some great parodies and impressive photoshopping. Some of the best picks in the fantasy line-up include High School Musical's Sharpay Evans, president of the European Council Charles Michel, Happy Valley's Catherine Cawood and even the Barbican Centre (the Barbie-Ken Centre, to some).
Barbie is out in UK cinemas on 21 July 2023.