Helen Mirren Reveals Cut ‘Barbie’ Scene With Olivia Colman: We Were ‘Playing Drunk’ and She ‘Tries to Take Over the Role of Narrator’
variety.comJenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Though Helen Mirren’s voice is unmistakable in “Barbie,” she also shot a scene as herself for the blockbuster. “It was a very funny scene with Olivia Colman sort of playing drunk and us clashing about who is the real grande dame of British actresses,” Mirren reveals with a laugh. “She comes in and tries to take over the role of the Narrator and I had to fight her off.” Mirren points out that the scene is clearly parody, praising British actors as wonderfully supportive.
But it’s the kind of joke that only works for that reason — and because Mirren occupies such high esteem that no one can argue when she’s presented as the one to usurp.
It’s why, when director Greta Gerwig sent her the script for the movie, the role was not written as “Narrator,” but rather as “Helen Mirren” — there was no one else she had in mind to play the all-knowing, trusted voice of God that rules this cinematic world.
The variety of Mirren’s career is summed up nicely by just her roles in the last year: in addition to Barbie, she starred as the Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in “Golda” and the matriarch of a ranching family in the “Yellowstone” prequel “1923.” She also brought gravitas to two big-budget studio sequels, “Fast X” and “Shazam!
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