Ncuti Gatwa's Unsuccessful Barbie Audition Made Greta Gerwig Write A Whole New Ken For Him

The beauty of Greta Gerwig's upcoming Barbie movie is that there are just enough Barbies and Kens for everyone to relate to. While Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling remain the classic versions of the world-famous blonde-haired dolls, others are no less important.

In fact, some Barbies and Kens are so unique that they were almost hand-picked by director Greta Gerwig herself just to be in the movie. One such story was told by Ncuti Gatwa in his recent Rolling Stone UK interview.

The actor opened up about the very surprising aftermath of his initially failed audition:

“My agent said that Greta hadn’t been able to stop thinking about me, so I was asked back to audition for Ken. Which was confusing because Ryan was Ken! <...> I’ve gotten down to the final two so many times, then I meet the director and… I’m convinced that there’s something about me that just turns them off. I was sure this would be the same thing again.”

This time, however, things turned out very differently than the actor thought, as Gerwig actually had the role, which he ended up playing in the film, marked down in the script and ready to go.

We're still waiting to learn more about his character, but one thing is for sure: Gatwa has some pretty great company. One of his Sex Education co-stars, Emma Mackey, shows up in the same universe as one of the Barbies, and another co-star, Connor Swindells, takes on the role of a human intern.

Despite the rocky start, everything seems to have worked out perfectly for Gatwa. Whether it's his charming presence or "the Leo-Libra vibe" between him and Gerwig, which he mentions in the same interview, he managed to secure the role of a truly iconic character after a seemingly failed audition.

If you want to see Ncuti Gatwa as Ken in action, be sure to catch Barbie after it premieres on July 21. Mark your calendars and head to your local theater to get your tickets!

Source: Rolling Stone UK