Timothée Chalamet comments that he never knew what his scrapped cameo in Barbie was supposed to be

Last Updated on December 20, 2023

Timothée Chalamet is kicking off the holiday season with Wonka. The Candy Man’s origins is not the only recent land of pure imagination for the young actor as he also navigates the sandy terrains in Dune Part Two early next year. And while Chalamet has built quite a start to his blockbuster franchise resume, he started to gain acclaim in dramas including Lady Bird and Little Women, which were written and directed by Greta Gerwig. Gerwig would of course have a big year with the meta-comedy Barbie.

According to Variety, Chalamet was promoting Wonka on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon where he revealed that he was originally approached to make a cameo appearance in Barbie, but it wouldn’t work out due to his schedule. Chalamet explained, “There was an idea for Saoirse Ronan and I to do a cameo in it. I don’t know what the cameo would’ve been. I think it would’ve been one of the rejected Kens or Barbies. Not Alan! Maybe there was a reject French one along the way.”

Earlier this year, Gerwig would tell Hollywood First Look that Chalamet was still able to make a brief visit to the Barbie set since Wonka would be filming at the same studio lot around the same time. She explained, “I tried to get them both in it. They both couldn’t do it. Although Timothée did come by the set and then said, ‘I should have been in this,’ And I was like, ‘I know! Why aren’t you in this?’” Gerwig would add, “Both of them couldn’t do it, and I was so annoyed. 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.”

Ronan’s schedule conflicted with the filming of Barbie as she was filming her own movie, The Outrun, in which she is also attached as a producer. According to Variety, The Outrun “is adapted from the 2016 memoir by Scottish journalist and author Amy Liptrot.” The casting directors of Barbie had revealed that there were other actors that the production went after, but couldn’t commit to appearing. This included Saturday Night Live Emmy nominee Bowen Yang, Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Dan Levy and Dear Evan Hansen Tony winner Ben Platt. They were all intended to appear as more various versions of Kens in the movie, “but scheduling logistics prevented the castings from happening.” Additionally, Jonathan Groff was also up for the role of Ken’s heavily-attached friend Allan. The part would end up going to Scott Pilgrim star Michael Cera.