Cillian Murphy open to playing Ken in 'Barbie' sequel

LOS ANGELES: ‘Oppenheimer’ star Cillian Murphy says he wants to play Ken in the sequel of Margot Robbie-starrer 'Barbie'. The 47-year-old 'Peaky Blinders' actor said he would happily "have a conversation" to discuss getting involved with the rival blockbuster, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Speaking to Omelete, Cillian said: "Would I play a Ken in 'Barbie 2'? Sure, yeah. Let's read the script, let's have a conversation." Despite both 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' being released at the same time, he shared it is "great for cinema" to have such major box office draws going head-to-head.

He said, "I can't wait to see (Barbie). I can't wait to see the movie. I think it's great for cinema to get all these great movies happening this summer."

'Barbie' casting directors Lucy Bevan and Allison Jones recently discussed how they had gathered the perfect ensemble to play the different Kens in the film, with roles going to the likes of Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa and John Cena.

Allison told 'Vanity Fair' magazine, "We needed actors who could get the fact that our Barbies only knew pleasant things."

Lucy added, "They were definitely really different, but they had to feel like a cohesive group. You wanted to cast people who were really going to get on and be great and enjoy it."

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, some potential Kens were ruled out because they couldn't spend three months in London for the shoot, with the pair revealing Bowen Yang, Ben Platt and Dan Levy all missed out due to scheduling conflicts.

Allison said, "They were, I'm not kidding, really bummed they couldn't do it."