Why Dan Levy Turned Down Ken Role in Barbie

Dan Levy sometimes regrets missing the chance to party with Barbie.

The co-creator of Schitt's Creek recalls turning down a role of one of the Kens in Greta Gerwig's Barbie film, which ended up being a box office success and nominee and winner of several awards, due to a scheduling conflict.

"Logistically could not make it work despite desperately trying to," Levy told People in an interview published Jan. 13. "So, yeah, I guess I was I was technically unavailable to do that."

The 40-year-old continued, "Does it haunt me when I sleep at night? Sometimes. It's not like it isn't like one of the biggest movies of all time. That was a tough, that was a tough day."

Filming on Barbie took place in California and England during most of 2022. Late that year, Levy began shooting his new Netflix film Good Grief, which he also wrote and directed. The movie began streaming on Netflix Jan. 5.

Barbie stars Margot Robbie in the main role and Ryan Gosling as the main Ken character, with several supporting actors, including Simu Liu and John Cena, playing other Ken dolls.

Last July, Vanity Fair reported that Levy, Bowen Yang and Ben Platt were all contenders to play Ken parts in the film. According to the outlet, parts of Barbie were shot in London under strict COVID protocols, which meant every cast member was required to spend three months in the city close to production, which created a logistical issue for those three actors. Casting director Allison Jones told the publication, "They were, I'm not kidding, really bummed they couldn't do it."

Find out which other actors were almost cast in Barbie:

Seven years before Greta Gerwig's version of Barbie premiered, a movie based on the popular doll was already in the works at Sony, with the comedian attached to the project.

And while in 2017, she announced she wouldn't be able to star in the film due to scheduling conflicts, earlier this year, she revealed the real reason behind her exit.

"I think we said it was scheduling conflicts," she said during a June episode of Watch What Happens Live. "That's what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. But there's a new team behind it and it looks like it's very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie."

The Trainwreck star's sentiment echoes what she previously shared about the direction she realized the project was going in.

"They definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it," she told the Hollywood Reporter in March 2022.

Noting that she wanted Barbie to be an "inventor," she said the studio had the idea that a creation of hers would be heels made of Jell-O and later sent her a pair of Manolo Blahniks."

The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there," she said, "I should have gone, ‘You've got the wrong gal.'"

After Amy's departure, the Devil Wears Prada alum signed up in 2018 to replace the comedian, with a set release date of 2020. But by the end of that year, Deadline confirmed that Anne was no longer attached to the project, which had made its way over to Warner Bros. with Margot Robbie as Barbie instead.

Margot, who serves both star and co-producer of Barbie, originally envisioned the Wonder Woman star to lead the Barbie world.

"Gal Gadot is Barbie energy," Margot told Vogue of the actress, who wasn't available for the part. "Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don't hate her for being that beautiful because she's so genuinely sincere, and she's so enthusiastically kind, that it's almost dorky. It's like right before being a dork."

Ahead of Barbie's premiere, the Lady Bird alum (and longtime collaborator of Greta's) revealed she was up for a special cameo in the film. Alas, she was busy shooting The Outrun in Scotland at the time.

"I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there," she told People. "There was a whole character I was going to play—another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn't do it."

Saoirse wasn't the only one Greta was hoping would make a special appearance, as the director revealed she also had her eyes set on Lady Bird's Timothée Chalamet.

"I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed," Greta told CinemaBlend. "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."

The Schitt's Creek alum was unable to take on a role of a Ken due to the cast having to spend three months filming in London, the film's casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair.

The actor himself told People in January 2024, "Logistically could not make it work despite desperately trying to. So, yeah, I guess I was I was technically unavailable to do that."

He added, "Does it haunt me when I sleep at night Sometimes. It's not like it isn't like one of the biggest movies of all time. That was a tough, that was a tough day."

Another Ken that could've been? Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang was another actor who couldn't film, according to Allison.

And last but not least, Ben Platt rounded out the trio of Ken potentials, who, as Allison revealed, were "really bummed they couldn't do it."

The Glee alum felt quite the opposite about missing out on the role as Allan (which would later go to Michael Cera).

"Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can't believe I'm typing this," Allison shared, "but I can't do Allan."