Lucy Boynton Says Proust Barbie Was Cut From Film Because Test Audiences Didn't Get The Joke

Greta Gerwig's hit movie could feature a bigger appearance than Proust Barbie. According to actress Lucy Boynton, Barbie it originally featured more scenes with the character, who was based on French author Marcel Proust.

Boynton, speaking on SiriusXM's The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw, explained that he filmed more than the small scene in which he appears. “Being on that set was wild,” he said. “Being in Weird Barbie's house was surreal. So you immediately say yes to this opportunity, obviously being in the environment with these brilliant minds, but yeah, being on that set was wild.”

The actress's character appears in the background of one scene and is also mentioned as part of a gag for a failed line of dolls based on Proust's work. But more material was apparently cut because test audiences didn't respond well.

“Proust Barbie is only gently in his depth Barbie film because in test screenings, it turns out that modern audiences don't know who Proust is, so the joke doesn't quite come across,” Boynton said. “It's a bit disappointing that we're losing touch with this story, but hopefully this will be a trigger for people to read about Marcel Proust. It was shocking.”

She added that Gerwig called her to discuss the response. “Will Ferrell at one point also mentions it [Greta’s] such as, “There is no reaction. They don't know who Proust is,” Boynton said, noting that the cut material was a series of “little moments.”

Gerwig previously told the Associated Press that he included Proust's Barbie as an obscure reference due to a parallel between the author's work and the film's plot. “In Remembrance of Things Pastin Swann's Way, he is literally thrown back to his childhood through the taste of madeleine,” explained the director. “So I thought, this will be a nice Easter egg for a person.”

Boynton joked that her role “wasn't the full Olivia Colman role” in reference to Colman's role, which was cut entirely from the film. Helen Mirren, who plays the film's narrator, he said Variety earlier this year that Coleman was originally in the story.

“It was a very funny scene with Olivia Colman acting drunk and us clashing over who is the real grande dame of British actresses,” Mirren said. “She comes in and tries to take over the role of narrator and I had to fight her.”