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Life is fantastic for four lucky fans after a very special encounter with Greta Gerwig.

The Barbie director was recently out for dinner in New York City with her frequent collaborator Timothée Chalamet and longtime partner Noah Baumbach when she ran into four fans—and fellow Barnard College grads—on the sidewalk, according to the group of friends, who shared their story exclusively with E! News.

Given that they all share an alma mater, Mariel O'Connell, Ashley Galgano, Gwen Fishel and Erin Crosby-Eckstine "couldn't resist getting a chance to talk to someone we all admire so much," O'Connell said in a message on behalf of the group.

"We stopped her, and she was incredibly gracious and fun to talk to," O'Connell said of Gerwig. "We congratulated her on her success, chatted about our shared favorite professor from school and how personally called out (in the best way possible) we felt by her Pride and Prejudice joke in the film."

However, it seemed Chalamet was actually the biggest Gerwig stan that night, with O'Connell recalling how the actor "stood off to the side looking proud and beaming for his successful friend."

And when Gerwig suggested to the group that they snap a photo to commemorate the moment, Chalamet "enthusiastically jumped in and volunteered to take it for us," O'Connell said.

"He's a great photographer," the fan added. "Greta is everything, and Timothée is more than Kenough."

 

In case you've been living under a dune, Chalamet and Gerwig are close friends. The two worked together in 2017's Lady Bird and 2019's Little Women, both of which also starred Saoirse Ronan.

In fact, Gerwig even wanted to have Chalamet and and Ronan appear in Barbie, but fate had other plans.

"I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed," the filmmaker recently told CinemaBlend. "But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I'm not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom."

Who else was almost cast in Barbie? Keep reading to find out.

Seven years before Greta Gerwig's version of Barbie premiered on the big screen, a movie based on the popular doll was already in the works at Sony, with the comedian attached to the project. However, by 2017, she announced she wouldn't be able to star in the film due to scheduling conflicts. But earlier this year, the Inside Amy Schumer star revealed the real reason behind her exit.

"I think we said it was scheduling conflicts," she said during a June episode of Watch What Happens Live. "That's what we said. But it really was just like, creative differences. But there's a new team behind it and it looks like it's very feminist and cool, so I will be seeing this movie."

The Trainwreck star's sentiment echoes what she previously shared about the direction she realized the project was going in.

"They definitely didn't want to do it the way I wanted to do it, the only way I was interested in doing it," she told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2022. Noting that she wanted Barbie to be an "inventor," she said the studio had the idea that a creation of hers would be heels made of Jell-O and later sent her a pair of Manolo Blahniks.

"The idea that that's just what every woman must want, right there," she said, "I should have gone, ‘You've got the wrong gal.'"

After Amy's departure, the Devil Wears Prada actress signed up to replace the comedian in 2018, with a set release date of 2020. But the end of that year, Deadline confirmed that Anne was no longer attached to the project, which had made its way over to Warner Bros. with Margot Robbie as Barbie instead.

For Margot, who serves both star and co-producer of Barbie, the Wonder Woman star is who she originally envisioned to lead the Barbie world.

"Gal Gadot is Barbie energy," Margot told Vogue in May of the actress, who wasn't available for the part. "Because Gal Gadot is so impossibly beautiful, but you don't hate her for being that beautiful because she's so genuinely sincere, and she's so enthusiastically kind, that it's almost dorky. It's like right before being a dork."

Ahead of Barbie's premiere, the Lady Bird alum (and longtime collaborator of Greta's) revealed she was up for a special cameo in the film, especially since their filming location was literally close to home. Alas, she was busy shooting The Outrun in Scotland at the time.

"I was supposed to do a cameo because I live in London and they were [filming] there," she told People last September. Referring to the concept of playing another version of the iconic doll, she added, "There was a whole character I was going to play—another Barbie. I was gutted I couldn't do it."

Saoirse wasn't the only one Greta was hoping would make a special cameo, as the director revealed she also had her eyes set on her Lady Bird co-star Timothée Chalamet.

"I was also going to do a specialty cameo with Timmy, and both of them couldn't do it, and I was so annoyed," she recently told CinemaBlend. "But I love them so much. But it felt like doing something without my children. I mean, I'm not their mom, but I sort of feel like their mom."

The Schitt's Creek alum was unable to take on a role of a Ken due to the cast having to spend three months filming in London, the film's casting director Allison Jones told Vanity Fair.

Another Ken that could've been live from Barbieland? Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang was another actor who couldn't film, according to Allison.

And last but not least, Ben Platt rounded out the trio of Ken potentials, who, as Allison revealed, were "really bummed they couldn't do it."

The Glee alum felt quite the opposite about missing out on the role as Allan (that would later go to Michael Cera).

"Dear, dear Jonathan Groff was like, ‘I can't believe I'm typing this," Allison shared, "but I can't do Allan."

Watch E! News weeknights Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., only on E!.