Anne Hathaway Feels ‘Lucky’ Her ‘Barbie’ Movie Didn’t Get Made

Anne Hathaway feels “lucky” that her Barbie movie was never made, paving the way for director Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film.

“What’s so exciting about what Greta and Margot [Robbie] and that phenomenal team [did] is they hit a bullseye,” Hathaway, 41, explained on a Monday, December 11, episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “The bullseye caused the entire world to reach this level of ecstasy. Now imagine that version … that much energy, that much anticipation, that much emotion … but it’s not the right version. I actually think of it as a lucky thing [it didn’t get made.]”

The Princess Diaries actress was supposed to star in filmmaker Althea Jones’ version of Barbie in June 2018, but the project was scrapped. Robbie, 33, later scored the rights to bringing Mattel’s iconic doll to the big screen and brought Gerwig, 40, on to find the right story.

Later in the interview, Hathaway continued to rave about Robbie and how amazing her role in the film was. The Australia native not only starred in Barbie but also executive produced the project with Lucky Chap Productions.

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“Margot is sublime. What she is doing as a creative person and a producer is so exciting and inspiring,” she noted. “The mythic giants they toppled with [Barbie] that have kept certain narratives in place that have not allowed opportunities to develop for so many people … they ran right through it. Just as a cinemagoer and as a woman in Hollywood since I was a kid, I’m thrilled by the development.”

Hathway went on to share that she feels like Gerwig and Robbie’s version of Barbie ended up being “the best possible one.”

“If I believed that the version I was attached to could have done that, I might feel differently about it,” Hathaway added. “It’s easy just to be thrilled and happy [for them]. I love watching women kill it. To do so well, so undeniably that they actually had to write new records … come on! I think it will probably make things better.”

While Hathway didn’t make it into Gerwig’s version of Barbie, she believes that the “right role finds the right person.”

“Sometimes it’s you and sometimes not,” she added. “When it doesn’t happen, trust deeper and keep going … it sounds maybe corny, but you really do have to keep it grateful.”

Gerwig’s Barbie hit theaters in July and earned an estimated $155 million at the domestic box office on opening weekend. The movie has since earned over $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office.

In July, Gerwig admitted that she was blown away by Barbie’s success.

“I wanted to make something anarchic and wild and funny and cathartic and the idea that it’s actually being received that way, it’s sort of extraordinary,” she told the New York Times. “I think it was a particular ripple in the universe that allowed it to happen. I’m so grateful. I’m so amazed. I’m at a loss for words, really … it’s been amazing to walk around and see people in pink. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this.”