Barbie Breaks Greta Gerwig's Timothée Chalamet & Saoirse Ronan Casting Tradition After 6 Years

When the Barbie cast was announced, many pointed out that the absence of Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan broke a casting tradition that began six years ago with Gerwig’s Lady Bird. Ronan was the star of both of Gerwig’s previous directorial feats, Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women, which featured Chalamet in ing roles. While Lady Bird isn’t based on anything that happened during Gerwig’s own coming-of-age, it was often described as “semi-autobiographical,” including by Ronan. This collaboration between Ronan and Gerwig on the personal film created interest in the pairing that extended to Chalamet when they both starred in Little Women.

Leading up to Barbie’s premiere, there was great speculation online that Chalamet and Ronan might have surprise roles in the film. However, Gerwig recently revealed that though Chalamet and Ronan were supposed to have “specialty cameos” in the Barbie movie, it ultimately didn’t work out, which made her “so annoyed.” After years of working together, Gerwig said of the acting duo, “I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I'm not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom."

This news was seen as both shocking and saddening to many viewers, though some are comically holding out hope. One Twitter even referenced Andrew Garfield repeatedly saying he wouldn't be appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home ahead of its release as a way to suggest that Gerwig could be withholding a big surprise as well. Sadly, Gerwig seems to be telling the truth, meaning that Chalemet, Ronan, and Gerwig won’t be completing what could have been a trifecta for the trio.

Why Timothée Chalamet & Saoirse Ronan's Barbie Cameos Didn't Happen

According to Gerwig, both Chalamet and Ronan couldn’t work the Barbie cameos in with their schedules, specifically because Ronan was working on producing another project. Ronan is starring in and producing The Outrun, which is currently in post-production. As for Chalamet, Gerwig didn’t say what he was working on that made him unable to film a specialty cameo for Barbie, but he stars in the “Dune: Part Two” and “Wonka,” so it’s likely that he was busy with one, or potentially even both, of those projects. Chalamet and Ronan will be missed in Gerwig’s Barbie, but hopefully, there will be another collaboration between the three of them someday.