Michael Cera Wasn’t Part Of Ryan Gosling’s Barbie Group Chat
When the female cast members of Barbie bonded during a sleepover at Margot Robbie’s, the male cast responded with their own bonding method: a group chat. Actors like Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu were part of the high-profile thread, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Cera was left out of the digital Barbie brotherhood. The reason: he has a flip phone.
Michael Cera was left out of the Barbie group chat because he uses a flip phone.
The actor has always had reservations about smartphones. He told a story about having lunch with a friend when Blackberries first came on the scene. Instead of a pleasant conversation, Cera sat in silence while his buddy sent emails from his mobile.
Ever since Michael Cera has avoided smartphones and similar technologies. Doing so boxes him out of certain opportunities, but in the case of the Barbie boys group chat, he was okay with that.
Cera said he didn’t feel he would have fit in on the thread anyway. To him, that suited his character in the film, Allan, who he described as “in his own little world.” Michael Cera is no stranger to playing awkward misfits, and it seems he will continue his streak in Barbie.
And what a streak it has been. Michael Cera has played lovable, awkward guys for years. He started out as George-Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, won audiences over in cult classics like Superbad, Juno, and Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and has continued his career with an array of voice acting, drama, and comedy roles.
Michael Cera won’t be the only actor flexing his comedic chops in Barbie. Margot Robbie, who plays the title character, praised Ryan Gosling for his portrayal of Ken. She called Gosling “the most comedically gifted actor I have ever worked with,” admitting that she ruined several of his takes by laughing through them.
Ryan Gosling is best known for his dramatic roles in films like The Notebook, Drive, and Blade Runner 2049, but he has also shown his comic genius several times in movies like The Nice Guys, Crazy Stupid Love, and the hilarious and heartbreaking La La Land. Director Greta Gerwig and the rest of the Barbie team looked to leverage that comic timing in Barbie.
Michael Cera avoids smartphones and other intrusive technology, such as all social media, to mantain his privacy.
Michael Cera and Ryan Gosling will have to compete with the prowess of Barbie herself, Margot Robbie. Gosling opened up about the brightness Robbie brought to set while shooting Barbie, recounting the story of her pink dress code.
Margot Robbie made pink clothing mandatory one day a week for all crew members, and anyone who failed to comply had to pay a fine that Robbie donated to charity. Gosling said everyone had fun with it, and the crew even pooled their own money to make pink, rainbow-fringed shirts to wear to the set.
“It was this opportunity for them to show their respect and admiration for what Margot and Greta were creating,” Gosling said. “It was almost like that scene at the end of Dead Poets Society, where they all get on their desk and say, ‘O captain! My captain!’”
In or out of the group chat, Michael Cera, Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie, and the rest of the cast and crew seem to have had a blast bringing Barbie to life on the big screen.
“It was this opportunity for them to show their respect and admiration for what Margot and Greta were creating, it was almost like that scene at the end of Dead Poets Society, where they all get on their desk and say, ‘O captain! My captain!'”
Ryan Gosling on the cast of Barbie bonding over wearing pink to the set
Barbie opens July 21 against Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The movies will duke it out at the box office, and the simultaneous release has inspired many film fans to abandon the weirdest double feature in movie history with reckless abandon. No details about an Oppenheimer group chat have yet been released, but we will keep you posted.
