Amy Schumer wasn’t feeling life in plastic while working on a prior version of the upcoming live-action Barbie film.
Before Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and writer-director Greta Gerwig worked on the blockbuster adaptation of the iconic Mattel doll line, Schumer was tapped to serve as the project’s executive producer while writer Hilary Winston’s script was under consideration at Sony.
Before quitting the film in 2017, Schumer reportedly worked on refining the script to her liking. The project then moved to Warner Bros., where Gerwig and her long-term partner, Noah Baumbach, wrote a new screenplay.
When questioned about the OG concept on Thursday’s edition of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Schumer cracked a quip, “They said I was too thin.”
“I can’t wait to see the movie. I think it looks awesome. I think we said it was scheduling conflicts. That’s what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. But there’s a new team behind it and it looks like it’s very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie.”
Back in 2016, Sony Pictures had the “Barbie” rights and hired Schumer to appear in a film with a screenplay and an original idea by Hilary Winston. Rewrites were planned by Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele, but the comedian exited the film less than a year later.
The actor at the time announced in a statement to Variety that she was “unfortunately no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts.”
“Sony and Mattel have been excellent partners, and the movie has so much potential. Although I’m disappointed, I can’t wait to watch Barbie on the big screen.”
When Cohen questioned Schumer about whether or not the original version “didn’t feel feminist and cool” with her in it, the Inside Amy Schumer and Trainwreck star gave a straightforward “Yeah.”
In 2022, Schumer claimed to The Hollywood Reporter that her departure was caused by an incident with a Jell-O sneaker.
She confirmed that she intended the character to be an “inventor,” but that the studio wanted her innovation to be a shoe built out of the tasty treat.
“They definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it,” she told the outlet.
“The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal.”
She said she should have realized the project wasn’t for her when the studio gave her a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting.
The film will be released nationwide by Warner Bros. on July 21.
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