The right role finds the right person

Anne Hathaway is sincerely happy for her colleagues, director Greta Gerwig and actress Margot Robbie. Their film "Barbie" became a hit this summer, grossing $1.4 billion. However, back in July 2017, Anne announced that she would play the main role in the Sony Pictures film about the famous Mattel doll. The role was originally intended for stand-up star Amy Schumer, but later went to Hathaway.

It was assumed that Sony will release “Barbie” in June 2018. Australian director Alethea Jones, known for her work on the comedy Fun Mommy Dinner (2017), was to helm the filming process. Sources close to the film studio described the project in the spirit of the films “Splash” (1984), “Enchanted” (2007), and “Bolshoi” (1988). Schumer polished the script, which followed Barbie as she leaves Barbieland due to her imperfections and ventures into the human world. As a result, the project did not materialize, but opened the door for Robbie to acquire the rights and transfer it to Warner Bros.

“The most phenomenal thing about Greta and Margot and their phenomenal team is that they hit the bull's eye 100 percent,” said Hathaway. “Hitting the bull’s eye brought the whole world to this level of ecstasy. And imagine a version... with more energy, with more anticipation, with more emotion... but this is the wrong version. I actually think of it as luck (which had nothing to do with it).”

“Margot is amazing,” Anne continued. “What she does as a creative and producer is so exciting and inspiring. The mythical giants they overthrew (in Barbie) who enforced certain stories and wouldn't allow them to be changed...they just jumped over them! As a spectator and working in Hollywood since childhood, I am happy about this turn. If I had imagined that the version I was involved with had been made, I would probably feel differently about it, but I honestly think their film is the better version. It's easy to celebrate their success, I love watching women win. To do it so well, so undeniably, they had to, in fact, apply new methods... I think it will probably make the world a better place.”

Even though she didn't make it into Barbie, Hathaway doesn't regret the missed opportunity. And in general, over the years of working in cinema, I have learned to accept the fact that projects sometimes do not happen or do not go as we would like. “You learn to just move on... the right role finds the right person, sometimes it's you and sometimes it's not,” she noted. “When it doesn’t happen, trust and keep going... it may sound cliché, but you really should be grateful.”