Michael Cera Admits He Wasn't In The Barbie Group Chat For The Most Barbie Reason
Michael Cera missed out on a key part of the Barbie filming experience due to his choice of mobile – an old school flip phone.
The Juno actor is one of the many stars appearing in Greta Gerwig’s much-hyped film and hit the pink carpet alongside the likes of Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and Dua Lipa at the world premiere on Sunday night.
Unfortunately, he’s been missing out on the group WhatsApps though and explained the simple reason why to People Magazine.
“I don’t have an iPhone myself. I have a flip phone,” he said of his choice of phone, which is also a favourite of Barbie’s.
Michael added that he doesn’t feel it would be right to be in the chat either, because his Barbie character Allan “is sort of in his own little world.”
“Greta’s gift for me when I arrived was a picture disc of NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, which felt like somehow a real guiding light in the backstory of this character,” he cryptically stated.
Michael has previously spoken out about not having a smartphone and told The Hollywood Reporter in February: “Right when people started having smartphones, when it was Blackberries, I had lunch with a friend of mine who was my best friend at the time, and he’d just gotten a Blackberry.
“For the whole meal he was typing emails, and I was sat there lonely and bored. So I had an early aversion to them.”
Thankfully, the group chat wasn’t the only way the cast bonded.
Margot also held a sleepover for her fellow Barbies (she plays the ‘stereotypical’ doll while her female castmates play other versions of the toy) and there were frequent movie nights, themed dress up days and even a birthday party.
Simu Liu, who plays Ken 2, added to People: “Margot was so great. She had a sleepover with the Barbies before photography started, and the Kens were allowed to either visit briefly or to phone in and say hi,” he said.
“So we made sure to show our support but not be overbearing with our presence.”
Barbie will finally be out in cinemas in just under a fortnight and early reviews suggest the film does live up to its hype.
One critic, who attended Sunday’s world premiere in Los Angeles, tweeted: “#Barbie is currently my favorite film of the year. Greta Gerwig somehow exceeded my expectations. She tackles the positives and negatives of Barbie so beautifully. Give Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination, I’m dead serious!”
Barbie is released in UK cinemas on Friday 21 July.