The cast of ‘BARBIE’ had a group chat, but it didn’t include Michael Cera

The cast of ‘BARBIE’ had a group chat, but it didn’t include Michael Cera.

Cera has been cast in Barbie as Allan, a now-discontinued Barbie supporting character who was originally introduced in 1964. Allan was marketed as Ken’s best friend, and later married and had children with Barbie’s friend Midge, a decision that was seen as controversial to parents at the time. With Emerald Fennell cast as a pregnant Midge in the Barbie movie, it will be interesting to see how their lore factors into the film’s larger narrative.

“”It came up very last minute for me,” Cera said in a recent interview. “I was brought in really right before they started the movie. It was just so exciting to be there. Amazing people to be around. It was a full wig.”

In PEOPLE’s new Barbie special issue, on newsstands Friday, the costars reveal memories from their time making the hotly-anticipated film, including themed sleepovers.

Simu Liu says Margot Robbie hosted a sleepover for her fellow Barbie actresses. Margot was so great. She had a sleepover with the Barbies before photography started, and the Kens were allowed to either visit briefly or to phone in and say hi,” he says.

“So we made sure to show our support but not be overbearing with our presence. And all the Barbies and Kens got in a group chat,” adds Liu, 34.

That group chat didn’t include Michael Cera though, but he was fine with the omission. “Barbie is one of the most iconic franchises in the world and we are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Pictures and Margot Robbie to bring her to life on the big screen,” Ynon Kreiz, Chairman and CEO of Mattel, said in a statement when the film took shape. “We look forward to building on this collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures as we tell the stories of our beloved brands. Mattel Films is on a path to demonstrate the enormous potential of our brand portfolio, as we continue to execute on our strategy of transforming Mattel into an IP-driven, high performing toy company.”