Barbie almost added Saoirse Ronan — and one more A-lister, she reveals
Saoirse Ronan reveals her near-miss Barbie role had a catch: it was linked to another A-lister, and the unexpected combo will make you do a double take.
Before cameras rolled on Barbie , Greta Gerwig had a mischievous idea: slip Saoirse Ronan into Barbie Land for a cameo as another “Weird Barbie,” opposite Kate McKinnon. Ronan says the plan was a short, chaotic burst — roughly 20 minutes of screen time for the two to get gloriously odd together — but it never happened.
“I was supposed to be in Barbie. She had asked me to be in that, yeah.”
Ronan shared the near-miss on Jimmy Kimmel Live, adding that Timothée Chalamet was also meant to swing through Barbie Land. When Kimmel pressed her on who Chalamet would’ve played, she didn’t know for sure — her best guess was a “Weird Ken,” which fits a movie already overflowing with Kens.
What got in the way
Scheduling, plain and simple. Chalamet was literally next door, filming Wonka on the same studio lot. The Paul King musical prequel carried a reported $125 million budget and ultimately delivered more than $634 million worldwide, so his dance card was full of chocolate-factory business.
Ronan, meanwhile, was across the map in Scotland making The Outrun. She starred as Rona and took on her first producing credit, filming an intimate drama about a woman piecing her life together after addiction.
The Barbie cameo would’ve reunited Ronan with Gerwig after their collaboration on Little Women, but the detour had its own payoff: The Outrun earned Ronan a BAFTA nomination.