In 2023, Barbie lit up the box office, sparked a cultural wave and turned its cast of Kens into instant icons. Turning down a role in the pink-splashed, billion-dollar box office juggernaut might seem like a major misstep. For actor Matt Bomer, though it was the right call. He’s not losing sleep over it, and he recently explained just why that’s the case.
Matt Bomer has had plenty of major opportunities throughout the course of his career, and Barbie certainly would’ve been a nice notch in his belt. He spoke to Business Insider and opened up about why he walked away from the blockbuster. The Fellow Travelers star explained that he was originally in the running to play a Ken but ultimately declined the role to prioritize his family and give his full focus to his work on Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, a seven-time Oscar-nominated Leonard Bernstein biopic. Bomer explained his rationale with the following sentiments:
Even though my part in ‘Maestro’ was smaller, Bradley was so collaborative with me from the get-go. And it was such an immersive experience that to have just flown in from London to film my scenes [in ‘Barbie’] really quick and fly back to London — I feel like ‘Maestro’ wouldn’t have been the same experience for me.
