LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matt Bomer almost played Ken in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster hit ‘Barbie.’ ‘The Nice Guys’ star shared that he self-taped himself to play one of Ken’s iterations.
“I recorded it on my own, played a bunch of different Kens—and I dressed differently for all of them,” Bomer revealed, adding “I recorded the lines of the other person’s dialogue on my recorder and then gave myself space to respond.”
Who else auditioned for Ken's role in 'Barbie'?
Many other actors tried for Ken’s character, including ‘Saturday Night Live’ Emmy nominee Bowen Yang, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Emmy winner Dan Levy, and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Tony winner Ben Platt.
Jonathan Groff auditioned for the role of Ken’s long-suffering friend Allan, though Michael Cera was selected as per casting directors, according to Vanity Fair.
“It’s rather a boring reason, actually,” said casting director Lucy Bevan on actors who missed out, adding “On a movie like this, it was a hugely ambitious shoot and a complicated schedule, and you can have brilliant ideas, and people’s availability either does or doesn’t work.”
Simu Liu casting for 'Barbie'
Bevan reflected on Ken’s arch-rival Ken which was played by Simu Liu. “Those scenes were fun to audition,” Bevan said on ‘beach off’ fight scenes.
“Some of the Kens would take off their T-shirts, and we were like, no, no, you don’t need to take off your T-shirt. But Simu [Liu] just nailed that [line] in the film…There were certain scenes we used to audition, and the fine line between the comedy and sincerity of those characters is a difficult balance," Bevan added.
“The thing that Greta did always stress was that none of these people were sarcastic or winking at the camera. They were really Kens and Barbies,” casting director Allison Jones added.
After dropping the ‘Barbie’ opportunity, Bomer tried for Bradley Cooper starrer ‘Maestro’ and got the part of his lover.
“The stakes for me being out in high school, to me, were life and death, whether that was social death, familial death—whatever it was,” the Texas-raised Bomer said, adding “I had constructed a public persona that would allow me to survive and at least attempt to thrive.”
Bomer is presently starring in Showtime’s drama 'Fellow Travelers' and will be seen opposite Bradley Cooper in 'Maestro.'
'Barbie' is now available to own on Blu-ray and digital platforms.
