Two A-list stars were originally supposed to be in Barbie

Awards season is in full swing and with the SAG awards taking place this evening, Hollywood stars are descending from far and wide on the LA red carpet to celebrate the past year in television and film.

One of the most nominated films at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild award ceremony is Barbie, with the cult classic receiving nods for Best Actress (Margot Robbie), Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Cast and Best Stunt Ensemble.

And with the star-studded Barbie cast expected to be front and centre this evening, news of Barbie Easter eggs, special meanings behind scenes and America Ferrera's viral speech have of course resurfaced.

The most talked-about Barbie news this evening however is of course related to its casting, with two A-listers recently reported to have originally been cast in the film.

Yes, while the record breaking film had a knockout ensemble of Emerald Fennell, Nicola Coughlan, Dua Lipa, Ncuti Gatwa, America Ferrera and Helen Mirren to name a few, there were several other A-listers who were originally cast. And from Amy Schumer and Timothée Chalamet to Saoirse Ronan and Anne Hathaway, we're talking major Hollywood names.

The most recent A-listers in question? Olivia Colman and Ben Affleck.

Helen Mirren, the film's narrator, broke the news of Olivia Colman's cameo in a recent interview with Variety, explaining that there were originally supposed to be two narrators, with Colman's scene ultimately being scrapped.

“It was a very funny scene with Olivia Colman sort of playing drunk and us clashing about who is the real grande dame of British actresses,” Mirren explained. “She comes in and tries to take over the role of the narrator and I had to fight her off.”

Ben Affleck's almost cameo however was revealed by Michael Cera, who played Ken's best friend Alan in the film.

Opening up about his fight scene on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Cera revealed that he wasn't originally supposed to act that scene, adding: “It was supposed to be Ben Affleck. Am I allowed to say that?”

“Ben wanted to do it”, Cera explained, but reportedly had to pull out due to scheduling conflicting with his 2023 film, Air. 

We will continue to update this story.