From its A-list leads like Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling down to cameos from the likes of Helen Mirren, Dua Lipa, and John Cena, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” assembled one of the starriest casts of 2023. But according to Michael Cera, it could have been even bigger.
In a new appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cera revealed that Ben Affleck was slated to make a cameo in the film for a key action sequence. When the “Good Will Hunting” star had to drop out to shoot “Air,” Cera was asked to step in and fight a crew of Kens doing construction work.
“I wasn’t even supposed to fight in the movie,” Cera said. “Am I allowed to say what it was supposed to be? It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Am I allowed to say that? I think Ben wanted to do it, but he was directing his movie, but they didn’t find that out until the 11th hour.”
Cera said that adding fight choreography to his shooting schedule was a difficult ask, as he was still weak from recovering from COVID-19 when he started the stunt training. But with the help of some medical assistance on set, he was able to get through the rehearsals and shoot one of the film’s most memorable scenes.
“They’re like, ‘Okay, Ben is out. Something has to happen here, so you’re gonna fight them,’” he said. “I had to jump in with the stunt team. I had just gotten over COVID and they had me training and I almost died just doing a warm-up. I had to lie down in the trailer and they sent a nurse to see me.”
