How a Pair of Shoes Led Amy Schumer to Drop Out of ‘Barbie’ Before Margot Robbie Was Cast
Renan Botelho
Senior Digital Editor
Warner Bros. dropped the second teaser trailer of Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated film “Barbie” on Tuesday, which quickly went viral with multiple memes and make-your-own posters taking over social media. In one of the first scenes of the trailer, Margot Robbie’s Barbie is seen taking her shoes off while still showing the doll-foot shape. The moment aroused the curiosity of fans online, but those weren’t the only pair of shoes that received attention after the trailer’s unveiling.
Searches for Manolo Blahnik shoes spiked yesterday, thanks to Amy Schumer. In 2016, the actress was originally cast in the titular role of “Barbie” and also as a co-writer of the movie. Four months later, Schumer abandoned the project citing “scheduling conflicts.” However, in March 2022, she told a different story to The Hollywood Reporter.
Schumer revealed that she had a vision for Barbie to be an inventor. Back then, the movie was being produced by Sony. According to her, the company wanted Barbie to invent a pair of high heels made out of Jell-O, which didn’t match with her perspective on the character.
“The studio definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it. The only way I was interested in doing it,” Schumer said.
The final decision to leave the project, according to the THR story, came after someone from Sony sent her a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes to celebrate her casting announcement.
“The idea that that’s just what every woman must want, right there, I should have gone, ‘You’ve got the wrong gal’,” Schumer explained.
“Barbie” later moved to Warner Bros. in 2019, after a deal was made with Mattel. Gerwig was tapped as a director and Robbie and Ryan Gosling joined the project.
The new trailer also revealed the characters of Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, American Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera and Dua Lipa. “Barbie” will premiere on July 21.
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