Michael Cera plays the awkward, one-of-a-kind Allan in Greta Gerwigs blockbuster Barbie movie. But if not for arranging a last-minute Zoom call with the director, Cera might not have made it into the film.
It was a kind of very last-minute casting, Cera said in a video interview with GQ conducted before the actors strike. My manager got a call checking on my availability for it, and he called me and he said, I got a call about this movie. Its the Barbie movie. Greta Gerwigs directing it, and its filming in London for four months of something, so I told them you probably wouldnt want to to do it because you probably dont want to go to London.'
Cera continued, I was like, What! Call them back! He didnt like blow it or anything, but hes like, I managed their expectations that you might not want to do it. I was like, How can I not do it? I need to do it!'
Cera then took matters into his own hands.
I somehow got Gretas email address, I think through a common friend of ours, and I emailed her like, Can I be in it? Can I do that part?' Cera said. And she was like, Lets get on a Zoom right now. Heres a Zoom link, Ill be on there for the next hour. So she was just hanging out on the Zoom, like, Click the link whenever youre ready. And then we talked about it, and it just all happened really fast from there.
In Barbie, Cera plays the shy, short-lived companion of Ken. While there are countless iterations of Ken, there is only one Allan.
Allan is a sad figure. Hes just a person that doesnt really have any place in the world, explained Cera.
But why did Mattel discontinue the doll?
According to Cera, It just wasnt selling. The world just didnt need for Ken to have a friend Barbie is good, we can get a lot more Barbies in here, and friends of hers. But weve got Ken, and we dont need to go deeper in that direction. So Allan fell by the wayside a little bit.
Barbie recently surpassed Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight as Warner Bros. highest-grossing domestic release in history, with over $537 million in the U.S. and Canada. The pink fantasia has collected more than $1.2 billion globally and has remained the No. 1 movie for four consecutive weeks.
Watch Ceras full GQ interview below.