Lucy Boynton reveals why her Barbie character barely has any screen time

Release time：2024-05-22 11:20:18 Source：Culture Capsule news portal

Lucy Boynton is finally sharing what happened to her character in Greta Gerwig's Barbie film after she had only a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo.

Lucy, 30, plays Proust Barbie in the film, but many viewers only learned that after sticking around for the the end credits and reading her name.

The Bohemian Rhapsody actress joked that she was 'only softly in the background,' but that wasn't always the case.

Unfortunately, test audiences seem to have been the excuse used to cut out the vast majority of her part.

'Proust Barbie is only softly in the background of the Barbie film because in the test screenings, it turns out that contemporary audiences don’t know who Proust is, so the joke doesn’t quite land,' she explained on Sirius XM's The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw, via Entertainment Weekly.

Lucy Boynton, 30, said on Sirius XM's The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw that her Barbie character, Proust Barbie, was intended to have a much bigger part, via Entertainment Weekly

The Bohemian Rhapsody actress joked that she was 'only softly in the background,' but that wasn't always the case; Margot Robbie pictured

Lucy's character was supposed to be from a line of dolls inspired by the works of the novelist Marcel Proust.

The iconic French writer, who died in 1922, worked as a novelist and critic, and he's best remembered today for his mammoth seven-volume novel In Search Of Lost Time, which is widely considered one of the greatest works of 20th century literature.

Will Ferrell initially mentions the deleted line of misguided Barbies, before Lucy's character was to be shown later in the film at the house of Weird Barbie (played by Kate McKinnon). 

However, the people who make up studio test screenings are apparently not well acquainted with Proust's writing.

'[It’s] a little bit of a heartbreaker that we are kind of losing touch with that history, but hopefully this will then be a trigger for people to read up on Marcel Proust,' Lucy added. 'It was a shocker.'

She explained that director Greta Gerwig called her up after test screenings to give her the bad news. 

'Will Ferrell at one point references it and [Greta’s] like, "There's no reaction. They don't know who Proust is,"' Lucy recalled.

She also clarified that she was only featured in the film in 'little moments.'

'It's not a whole Olivia Colman cameo,' she said, reference a scene featuring the actress that was also cut from Barbie.

Lucy's character was supposed to be from a line of dolls inspired by the works of the novelist Marcel Proust, best known for his seven-volume novel In Search Of Lost Time

She explained that director Greta Gerwig called her up after test screenings to give her the bad news. 'Will Ferrell at one point references it and [Greta’s] like, "There's no reaction. They don't know who Proust is,"' Lucy recalled; Gerwig seen in March in Beverly

Instead, her character is only seen briefly in the background at Weird Barbie's house

Gerwig previously explained to the AP that she wanted the Proust reference because the theme of a return to childhood memories in his most famous novel is also appropriate for Barbie. 

'In Remembrance Of Things Past [a.k.a. In Search Of Lost Time, in [the first volume] Swann's Way, he is literally thrown back into his childhood through the taste of the madeleine. I thought, well, that’ll be a nice Easter egg for one person,' she said.

Despite getting cut out of the film, Boynton still had a good time filming her short scenes, though she sounded overwhelmed by the experience.

'Being on that set was wild,' she said. 'Being in the Weird Barbie house was surreal. That's kind of why you immediately say yes to that opportunity, obviously to be in the environment with those brilliant brains, but yeah. To be on that set was wild.'

Related articles