Why “Barbie Proust” was removed from the Barbie movie

Actress Lucy Boynton explains today: “It turns out that contemporary audiences don't know who Proust is…”

The French writer Marcel Proust has it lost its aura among the new generation? In any case, that's what he reluctantly concluded Greta Gerwigthe director of barbieat the time of the test screenings.

Indeed, the film had to incorporate the “Barbie Proust“, intellectual and nostalgic. It is also mentioned in the Mattel office, by the CEO played by Will Ferrell: “You remember Barbie Proust ? It really didn’t sell well!”

The doll, personified by Lucy Boyntonnevertheless had to hold a place in the film, because Greta Gerwig loved it In Search of Lost Time and wanted to include the Madeleine by Proust in his script. Lucy Boyntonrevealed by Bohemian Rhapsody, was thus hired to play it. Except that we don't see her (or almost) in the final cut.

“Being on that set was crazy! Being in the Weird Barbie house was surreal. That's why you immediately say yes to this kind of opportunity” says the actress today in an interview with SiriusXM, before specifying why her Barbie Proust was cut, following the test screenings, where the public did not seem to resonate:

“Barbie Proust ultimately only appears in the background of the film, as it turns out that contemporary audiences do not know who Proust is. So the joke fell a little flat…. It's a little heartbreaking to see that we're kind of losing touch with this culture. But I hope it will inspire people to read Marcel Proust. For me it was a shock.”

Boynton goes on to explain that Greta Gerwig called her to tell her about the flop Barbie Proust : “Will Ferrell refers to it at one point and Greta saw that there was no reaction from the audience. She told me: 'They don't know who Proust is!'

The character only had a few “little moments” in the film. In the end, she appears briefly in the background in a single scene.