Anne Hathaway appeared on the latest “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and called it “lucky” that her iteration of the “Barbie” movie never got off the ground considering the phenomenon that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” became over the summer. Back in July 2017, Hathaway was announced as the star of Sony’s “Barbie” movie. Comedian Amy Schumer was originally cast, but Hathaway took over the role after Schumer departed.
Hathaway’s “Barbie” was supposed to come out in June 2018. Australian filmmaker Alethea Jones, best known for helming the comedy “Fun Mom Dinner,” was in talks to direct the film, which sources described as in the vein of “Splash,” “Enchanted” and “Big.” Schumer did a polish on the script, which followed Barbie as she get kicked out of Barbieland for not being perfect enough and lands in a real-world adventure. The project never materialized, which opened the door for Robbie to take over the movie rights to the doll and bring the project to Warner Bros.
“What’s so exciting about what Greta and Margot and that phenomenal team [did] is they hit a bullseye,” Hathaway said. “The bullseye caused the entire world to reach this level of ecstasy. Now imagine that version … that much energy, that much anticipation, that much emotion … but it’s not the right version. I actually think of it as a lucky thing [it didn’t get made].”
“Margot is sublime,” Hathaway continued. “What she is doing as a creative person and a producer is so exciting and inspiring. The mythic giants they toppled with [‘Barbie’] that have kept certain narratives in place that have not allowed opportunities to develop for so many people … they ran straight through it! Just as a cinemagoer and as a woman in Hollywood since I was a kid, I’m thrilled by the development. If I believed that the version I was attached to could have done that, I might feel differently about it, but I genuinely think their film was the best possible version. It’s easy just to be thrilled and happy [for them]. I love watching women kill it. To do so well, so undeniably that they actually had to write new records … come on! I think it will probably make things better.”
While Schumer originally cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason she departed the “Barbie” movie, she revealed earlier this year that it was actually “creative differences” that caused her exit. She said Robbie’s movie looked “very feminist and cool,” which her version was not.
Schumer mentioned toThe Hollywood Reporterlast year that Sony “definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it.” She said she should’ve known the “Barbie” project wasn’t for her when the studio gifted her a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting.
Hathaway has no regrets about Sony’s iteration of the “Barbie” movie never getting off the ground, nor does she regret any of her missed career opportunities.
“You learn to just go … the right role finds the right person, and sometimes it’s you and sometimes not,” Hathaway said. “When it doesn’t happen, trust deeper and keep going … it sounds maybe corny but you really do have to keep it grateful.”
Another big movie Hathaway was attached to that never got made was Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4,” which would’ve brought back Tobey Maguire as the beloved web-slinger. Hathaway won the role of Black Cat, but Sony ultimately decided to scrap the film and reboot the series with Andrew Garfield’s “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Hathaway said she never got into the Black Cat costume or saw a full script, but she also doesn’t think too much about it, as not being in a “Spider-Man” movie perhaps opened the door for her to play Catwoman in “The Dark Night Rises.”
“If [‘Spider-Man 4’] had gotten made, I don’t know if I would’ve been considered for [‘The Dark Knight Rises’],” Hathaway noted, once again stressing that every role does or does not happen for a reason. “Perhaps [Christopher Nolan] would’ve said, ‘No, she’s occupied in another universe.'”
Watch Hathaway’s full appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.
