“I think that Margot [Robbie] is just sublime,” Hathaway said of the film’s star, 33, who also co-produced. “I’m not just saying this! Just as a cinemagoer and as a woman in Hollywood since I was a kid, I’m thrilled by the development.”

The Oscar winner added, “If I believed that the version I was attached to could’ve done that, yeah, I might feel differently about it, but I genuinely think theirs was the best possible version.”

“The thing that’s so exciting about what Margot and Greta [did is] they hit a bullseye,” Hathaway continued. “And 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. So I actually think of it as a lucky thing [mine didn’t get made],” she added.

Before Hathaway was attached and Robbie eventually stepped into the titular role, Amy Schumer was set to play the iconic doll back in 2016 in the Sony Pictures film. That version fell through, and the rights ended up with Warner Bros.

Amy Schumer; Margot Robbie in Barbie (2023).

CHARLES SYKES/BRAVO VIA GETTY; JAAP BUITENDIJK/WARNER BROS.

When Schumer, 42, announced she was leaving the project in March 2017, she told Variety, “Sadly, I’m no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts. The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I’m bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen.”

She later explained to The Hollywood Reporter that it was actually creative differences that led her to back out.

“They definitely didn’t want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it,” said the actress and comedian in March 2022.

When all was said and done, Schumer gave the film her seal of approval with a joke sprinkled in, writing on Instagram, “Really enjoyed Barbie and Oppenheimer but I think I should have played Emily Blunt’s role. Do better Hollywood.”