Ben Affleck was supposed to appear in Barbie, Michael Cera has revealed. Scheduling conflicts meant Cera had to do Affleck’s fight scene instead. Even on slick, multi-million dollar film productions, last minute changes can happen and sudden decisions have to be made. Such was the case on last year’s box office juggernaut, Barbie, according to ... Barbie | Michael Cera fight scene originally written for Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck was supposed to appear in Barbie, Michael Cera has revealed. Scheduling conflicts meant Cera had to do Affleck’s fight scene instead.
Even on slick, multi-million dollar film productions, last minute changes can happen and sudden decisions have to be made.
Such was the case on last year’s box office juggernaut, Barbie, according to a new anecdote from Michael Cera, who stars in the film as the likeably awkward Alan.
One of Cera’s most memorable scenes in Barbie involves a fight with a bunch of construction worker Kens, in which Alan displays a surprising knack for martial arts.
Talking on the HappySadConfused podcast, however, Cera reveals that the scene wasn’t initially written for him, but rather Ben Affleck in a surprise cameo.
Read more: Barbie review | Crikey, they pulled it off
“I wasn’t even supposed to fight in the movie,” Cera said, as picked up by Deadline. “Am I allowed to say what was supposed to be? It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Am I allowed to say that?”
Cera then added that Affleck was forced to drop out of Barbie because he was still shooting his genesis-of-a-running-shoe product biopic, Air. As a result, the scene had to be hastily rewritten, and the fight intended for Affleck went to Cera instead.
The only minor problem was that Cera was still recovering from a bout of Covid, and was therefore physically unprepared for a scene that required a lot of fisticuffs.
“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.”
With Barbie raking in almost $1.5bn at the global box office and eight Oscar nominations, it’s fair to say that everything worked out alright in the end.
