This Famous Actor Regrets Having to Turn Down Ken Role in ‘Barbie’: “That Was a Tough, Tough Day”

The cast of "Barbie" at a premiere — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Every actor and actress has that role: the role they didn’t get but wanted so desperately, or, if you’re perhaps a more established performer, the role they turned down and regretted. For Dan Levy, that role is that of one of the Kens in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie (in addition to Ken No. 1, played by Ryan Gosling, other Kens were portrayed by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, John Cena, Ncuti Gatwa, and Scott Evans).

Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu at "Barbie" premiere — Ryan Gosling played "Beach Ken" and Simu Liu starred as "Tourist Ken/Rival Ken"

Levy told People that he had to turn down the role because of scheduling conflicts: “Logistically could not make it work despite desperately trying to,” he said. “So, yeah, I guess I was technically unavailable to do that.”

Levy is a huge fan of Gerwig, telling the outlet that “I think Greta had such a, like, wonderfully bizarre and magical aesthetic idea of what that movie was,” he said. “I would have loved to play in her world. I think she is one of the great, young auteurs of our time.”

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Levy thinks about the missed opportunity frequently, and People reports that, for the actor, “the FOMO was real and lingering”: “Does it haunt me when I sleep at night? Sometimes,” Levy said. “It’s not like it isn’t, like, one of the biggest movies of all time. That was a tough, tough day.”

Next up for Levy is the Netflix film Good Grief, which he wrote, directed, and starred in. In the film, he plays an artist who is getting over the death of his husband by going on a trip to Paris with his two best friends; it is streaming now.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.