We all know that the best part of the summer was Barbie, but what was the best part of the best part? That would be Michael Cera as Allan, the often misunderstood counterpart to Ken in the film. While Ken was the cool guy from the movie, Allan was more in touch with his feelings and therefore could offer a more dramatic performance. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of that side of Allan, but all hope is not lost: it seems that Allan did film more scenes, and perhaps one day they will see the light of day.
Barbie cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto claims that there were “many” moments from the movie that ended up on the cutting room floor. “There are many things that I imagine will start coming out,” Prieto told Variety, referencing Barbie’s upcoming IMAX re-release. Not only that, but there is more Allan too, inspired by another classic summer hit, Jaws.
“We did this shot on Allan that emulated ‘Jaws,’” Prieto explained. “He’s terrified [when] Ken hits a wave and then flies in the air. There’s a moment where the police officer sees someone being eaten in the water. The camera does this push-in, it’s a move where you use a zoom and you’re dialing into the character while zooming back at the same time. The effect is that the background changes — the shot, and his performance, [were] very dramatic.” This could have been Cera’s Oscar moment, but maybe the world isn’t ready for that yet.
Just imagine Allan doing this, and you will understand why Gerwig was so excited about the shot. “[Gerwig] could not stop laughing when we shot it,” Prieto added. “[She] kept asking the video assistant to replay it for her just to laugh.” Hopefully, the audience will get a laugh soon and they will finally add in some of these deleted scenes, including Midge going into labor. She deserves some screen time too.
